Welcome to Boston. That will be $9.75, please. Tip is extra.
Tourists and locals who hop a cab at Logan International Airport now see nearly $10 in fees, fares, and tolls lit up on the digital meter before they move an inch.
"It's disgraceful," said Carl Cahoon, a driver for Independent Taxi for 20 years. "That's a Christmas gift from the governor, a Christmas gift from the Commonwealth to help pay for the Big Dig."
Taking a taxi from the airport has never been cheap. Until Tuesday, the combined starting costs were $9. But new toll hikes that went into effect Jan. 1 raise prices at the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels from $4.50 to $5.25 for taxicabs.
Add to that $2.25 for the first 1/8 of a mile, assessed by the taxi driver before he shifts into drive. And be sure to remember the $2.25 taxicab pool fee imposed by the Massachusetts Port Authority. (That went up in July from $2).
Allison Evans, 22, shrieked out a mild expletive when she walked out of Terminal A yesterday and learned how much she would be paying. The college student said she was returning to Brookline early from a visit to Cleveland, so she could get to her job at
"I hope I have enough cash," Evans said. "For those of us that live on a very limited budget to begin with, it makes it very difficult."
The newest hikes are still fresh, but taxi drivers say they already had a lot of explaining to do when starting costs were $9. There are blue signs in the back of the cab explaining the fees, which drivers point to often so riders will not think they are being taken for a ride.
"Sometimes we call dispatch to explain to them, because they think we're trying to cheat them," said Manuel Veiga, an Independent Taxi driver. "We get hurt because the tip will be less."
The newest toll hike hit almost everyone who drives in Boston. Noncommercial vehicles now pay 50 cents more at the tunnels, for a total of $3.50, and 25 cents more at the Allston-Brighton and Weston toll booths, for a total of $1.25.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Board passed the hike in October to cover payments on Big Dig bonds. After months of deliberation, board members chose the cheapest toll hike option, with the strong possibility that tolls will go up again next year if Governor Deval Patrick and the Legislature are unable to fix up the Authority's finances before then.
"While the increase does add to the cost of leaving Logan via cab, the Turnpike Authority has no control over the costs charged by cab companies or Massport," said Turnpike spokesman Mac Daniel.
Massport collected $3.9 million in cab fees last year, using the money to hire employees that organize 5,500 to 6,000 taxicabs a day, said spokesman Richard Walsh. He said the agency spent $900,000 more than it took in from fees on the taxi pool program.
Riders who don't want to pay for taxis can take the MBTA's Silver Line or Blue Line for $2, with a 30 cent discount for CharlieCard users. Water taxis into Boston cost $10 for most destinations.
Many business travelers do not wince at the fees because they pass the cost on to their employers, said Patrick Moscaritolo, chief executive officer of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
"The real impact, I believe, would be on the family of three or four," Moscaritolo said. "There may be sticker shock there, but we don't have any data that says that's a deterrent for anybody coming to Boston."
One traveler, Mike Kitterman, said he has no choice but to take a cab.
"I'm really in no position to negotiate, because I don't want to drive on the surface roads, in Boston especially," he said.
The forklift salesman from Pleasant Garden, N.C., travels around the county 40 to 45 weeks a year and said he braces for much higher costs in Boston.
Parking downtown here would cost him $40 a night, he said. "You could rent a hotel room in North Carolina for $40 a night," he said.
Noah Bierman can be reached at nbierman@globe.com.
