FareMeter How a taxi fare is calculated, and how FareMeter's GPS meter does it
A taxi fare breaks down into base fare, plus distance times the price per km or mile, plus waiting minutes times the price per minute, then whatever extras you add. For an 8.5 km ride with 5 minutes stuck in traffic at 3.00 + 1.20/km + 0.30/min, that comes out at 14.70 before extras, and FareMeter's GPS meter works it out live without a calculator.
Do taxis charge by time or distance?
Both, just not at the same moment. Moving at a normal speed, the meter counts distance. Stopped at a light or crawling in a jam, it switches to counting time instead. That split is the whole reason a fare keeps climbing in traffic when you are barely moving.
The switch happens at one set speed: below it, you are billed for time; above it, for distance. FareMeter calls this the Idle threshold, sets it to 10 km/h on a new tariff, and leaves it up to you to change.
The formula FareMeter uses
- Fare = Base fare + chargeable distance × price per km (or mile) + chargeable minutes × Per minute price.
- If the result is lower than the Minimum fare, the minimum fare is charged instead.
- Extras are added on top, and the total is rounded to the currency's own decimals: two for EUR and USD, none for JPY.
What counts as chargeable depends on the tariff's Charging mode.
| Charging mode | Distance charged | Time charged |
|---|---|---|
| Speed threshold (classic) | Only while above the idle threshold | Only while below it |
| Distance only | All distance | None |
| Time only | None | All time |
| Both simultaneously | All distance | All time |
Worked example: one ride, four modes
Tariff: base fare 3.00, 1.20 per km, 0.30 per minute, no minimum. The ride: 8.5 km driven above 10 km/h in 17 minutes, plus 5 minutes stopped at lights, 22 minutes in total. Currency EUR.
| Mode | Calculation | Fare |
|---|---|---|
| Speed threshold (classic) | 3.00 + 8.5 × 1.20 + 5 × 0.30 | 14.70 |
| Distance only | 3.00 + 8.5 × 1.20 | 13.20 |
| Time only | 3.00 + 22 × 0.30 | 9.60 |
| Both simultaneously | 3.00 + 8.5 × 1.20 + 22 × 0.30 | 19.80 |
Add a 5.00 Airport extra to the classic fare and the passenger pays 19.70. Most drivers stay on the classic mode because that is what most cab meters do; Both simultaneously only makes sense if a local regulator genuinely bills moving time twice, which is rare.
How to run a fare in FareMeter
- In Settings, under Tariffs, tap the pencil next to a tariff (or Add Tariff) and enter your Base fare, price per km or mile, Per minute and, if you have one, Minimum fare.
- Under Charging mode, pick Speed threshold (classic) and set the Idle threshold your meter uses, then tap Save.
- On the Meter tab, tap START when the ride begins. The fare, distance, time and speed update live.
- Tap Pause if you need to stop billing, and Resume to continue.
- Tap STOP, confirm with Stop & review, check the breakdown, choose how it was paid and tap SAVE.
How fast should a taxi meter go up?
Purely your rates, nothing else. With the tariff above, each kilometre adds 1.20 and each stopped minute adds 0.30. If a fare feels off, check the unit before you blame anything else: a tariff set to Kilometers (km) with a price meant for miles overcharges by roughly 60%, since a mile is the longer distance.
Is it accurate at a red light?
GPS wanders a few metres even with the car dead still — that is just how GPS behaves, not a FareMeter quirk. Anything slower than 1 m/s (3.6 km/h) gets ignored, so that wander never turns into billed distance. Lose the signal entirely, in a tunnel say, and the gap counts as waiting time for up to 30 minutes, never as distance.
Where this trips people up
- Leaving the starter tariff untouched. The two tariffs that ship with the app are examples, not your city's rates, and it is easy to run a whole night on them by accident.
- Wrong currency code. It sets both the symbol and the rounding, so a tariff left on EUR shows euros even if you charge in pounds.
- Saying no to location "always". Do that and the meter stops counting the second the screen locks.
Questions and answers
What is a base fare or flag fall?
Why does the fare keep rising when I am stuck in traffic?
Does the minimum fare replace the base fare?
Does FareMeter work in miles?
You might also like
- What time do taxi rates change? Setting up day, night and weekend tariffs · FareMeter
- How to charge for waiting time and extras like luggage, airport and tolls · FareMeter
- How to give a passenger a proper taxi receipt from your iPhone · FareMeter
More FareMeter guides
- What time do taxi rates change? Setting up day, night and weekend tariffs
- How to charge for waiting time and extras like luggage, airport and tolls
- How to give a passenger a proper taxi receipt from your iPhone
- How to track your taxi earnings and expenses per shift
- Taxi driver record keeping: exporting trips and expenses to CSV
- Is there an Apple Watch taxi app that works as a fare meter?
- All questions about FareMeter
- Back to FareMeter