Costa Rican Taxi Fares to Increase 16 Cents Per Kilometer.

When tourists arrive to San José’s Juan Santamaria International Airport, official, orange airport taxis await outside. Instead of paying per kilometer or minute, airport taxis have long functioned on a per-ride basis: walk up to a window inside the airport exit, announce your destination and prepay the fare based on a set fare chart. Fares could be paid in dollars or colones, and the system, while more expensive than regular taxi fares, served as a safe option for arriving tourists.

Change is in the air however, as the Regulatory Authority for Public Services (Aresep) recently announced that all airport taxis must now use the maría, or meter, and may only accept fares paid in colones. The change was ordered due to a resolution established in March 2009 that gave all national taxis a 3-month period to install meters and begin charging based on the displayed fare. Though this method promotes fair charging, it may be a harder system for tourists - instead of paying an upfront, flat rate in dollars, they must now be prepared with the local, unfamiliar currency.

The negative side to this is that the airport exchange rate is worse than what one would find in local banks, and some taxi drivers have been known to manipulate their taxi meter so that the price increases at a higher rate than what they are legally supposed to charge.

In June 2008, three months after the resolution had passed, the airport taxis were still charging per-ride. An Aresep study concluded that the United Airport Taxis company, which owns the orange airport taxis, was not using taxi meters or charging fares in colones only. The company also asked Aresep for a ten percent fare hike, and was refused.

Under the new regulations, airport taxis may only travel between the airport and their passengers’ destination. After completing a ride, the taxis must immediately return to the airport with no additional fares collected. The airport sedan taxis will begin charging at ¢675 for the first kilometer and will charge ¢555 (just over $1) for every kilometer thereafter. The maximum fare for wait time is ¢2,005 and the maximum fare for traffic delays is ¢5,550.

Airport microbus taxis will see slightly higher rates, starting at ¢675 for the first kilometer and increasing ¢675 for every kilometer thereafter. Microbus taxis may charg ¢2,115 and ¢6,750 for wait times and traffic delays, respectively. Do not allow taxi drivers to charge you more than this, and do not agree to a fixed-rate fare. All complaints and/or violations of these regulations may be reported to Aresep.

In other taxi news, the official red taxis were recently approved for a ¢85 fare increase. The Regulatory Authority has given Costa Ricans two weeks’ time to adjust to the new rates, which mostly come courtesy of higher gas prices. Base fares will now begin at ¢505 (instead of ¢420) and each additional kilometer will see an increased price from ¢380 to ¢465.

These price hikes come on the heels of many other increases to the cost of Living in Costa Rica, including ICE’s request to immediately raise electricity rates by 15 percent. Among ICE’s reasons are financial problems and the constant per-barrel price increase of gasoline. In addition to ICE’s financial problems, Costa Ricans may soon see a generous increase in their water bills: AyA (Waters and Aqueducts Institute) has asked for a 25 percent rate increase, and the appropriate agencies are currently conducting studies to approve or disprove the petition.

Photo courtesy of Al Dia.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on September 30th, 2008