Taxi, bus and plane fares likely to rise

Taxi, bus and plane passengers are fast joining car users in the queue of consumers stung by record fuel prices.

Three weeks ago, the New Zealand Taxi Federation said average taxi fares had increased up to 30c a kilometre, from about $1.95 at the end of last year to between $2.20 and $2.25.

Yesterday, executive director Tim Reddish said further fuel price increases since mid-August had pushed the average fare up an extra 10c. "You could say $2.35 now."

Mr Reddish said regular taxi users, particularly the elderly and disabled, had been cutting backon trips in some areas.

The federation had also noticed more calls from drivers wanting to know about converting to LPG.

Conversion cost about $3000, but with LPG now about 90c less a litre than petrol, it was quicker for drivers to recover the cost.

Some taxi companies have already increased fares to cover rising fuel costs.

Auckland Co-op Taxis said it would decide in the next week to 10 days, depending on whether the fuel price stabilised.

"We're in a watch and wait mode at the moment, just in case it does fluctuate down again," said general manager Brent Milham.

Bus users have yet to feel the pinch, but it may just be a matter of time.

"We can't go indefinitely with our current fares with the price of diesel as it is," said Stagecoach Auckland spokesman Russell Turnbull.

It was impossible to say how much fares needed to rise for Stagecoach buses to remain viable because of the constantly changing fuel price.

"It's a moving target."

But buses would always be a cheaper alternative to cars. "The percentage that the fares would go up would be minor compared to what people are paying at the pumps."

Air travellers are already starting to see the cost passed to them.

Air New Zealand fuel surcharges rose from yesterday, pushing up domestic fares by an average $6 and international fares by up to $20.

Qantas fuel surcharges increase $6 on both domestic and transtasman fares from today.

Meanwhile, one of the country's two suppliers of hybrid petrol-electric cars, Toyota, says sales of its 1.5-litre Prius have more than doubled in two months.

After modest sales of 10 to 15 a month, it jumped to almost 40 in July and 30 in August, and buyers face a waiting list reaching to November.

North Shore Toyota new vehicle sales manager Lee Shakes said he had sold about 10 hybrid vehicles in the past two months, and had ordered as many again.

His customers included organisations keen on a "green" image, such as the North Shore City Council, and ordinary motorists seeking cheaper running costs.

- Additional reporting Mathew Dearnaley