Long Distance Taxi Rates: How to Price Out-of-Town and Intercity Rides Without Losing Money
Long distance taxi rates for out-of-town rides are usually built in one of three ways: the area outside the city becomes a separate zone with its own rate per kilometre; a pickup or return surcharge is added to compensate for empty mileage; or a fixed price is set between zones, such as "city centre to airport". Intercity taxi fares are most often fixed for popular routes or calculated per kilometre with a tiered scale and compensation for the return trip. Below we go through each approach, show illustrative calculations and give you a setup checklist.
Why a city tariff doesn't work outside the city
If you take passengers out of town at the city tariff, the company and the driver almost always lose money. There are three reasons:
- Empty return mileage. From a suburb or a neighbouring town, the driver usually comes back empty.
- Fewer orders. While the car is out of town, it can't take city orders, and there are few orders in the suburbs.
- A different ride profile. Outside the city, speeds are higher and idle time is lower, so the per-minute part of the tariff earns almost nothing, while kilometres matter more.
So the task is to make out-of-town and intercity rides pay for the way back while staying clear and competitive for the customer.
Long distance taxi rates: five tools for out-of-town pricing
| Tool | How it works | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Out-of-town zone with its own rate | A separate price per km and minute applies inside the zone | Suburbs, holiday villages, industrial areas |
| Pickup surcharge | Added if the pickup address is in the zone | Collecting a customer from a remote area |
| Return surcharge | Added if the destination is in the zone | Compensating for the empty trip back |
| Pass-through surcharge | Added if the route passes through the zone | Toll road, bridge, bypass |
| Fixed price (transfer) | A price "from zone A to zone B" replaces the whole calculation | Airport, train station, neighbouring town |
Taxi cost per km outside the city: an out-of-town zone with its own rate
A zone is a polygon on the map for which the tariff sets its own price per kilometre and per minute. This is how the per-km rate outside the city is defined. An important detail: the zone rate replaces the base rate on the section inside the zone rather than being added to it. If a kilometre costs 14 in the city and 18 in the out-of-town zone, the kilometres beyond the city limits are charged at 18, not 32.
Zones are usually drawn large: the city, the near suburbs, the far suburbs. Draw them without overlaps or gaps, so every point on the route falls into exactly one zone.
Pickup and return surcharges
This is the simplest way to account for empty mileage. The pickup surcharge applies if the customer is picked up in the zone; the return surcharge applies if they are taken into the zone. Each is charged once per ride, even if the route enters the zone several times. The pass-through surcharge is charged for every zone the route passes through.
Tip: it is convenient to calculate the return surcharge as the cost of part of the trip back. For example, if a village is 15 km beyond the city limits and you estimate that the driver comes back empty half the time, the surcharge could cover roughly half of the 15 km back.
Fixed price: transfers
A transfer is a fixed price for a ride from one zone to another. It overrides the whole regular calculation: the base fare, free kilometres and zone rates are ignored, and only service fees, surcharges and discounts are added to the transfer price.
Useful things to know when setting it up:
- a transfer can include limits: how many minutes, kilometres and waiting minutes are included in the fixed price; if a limit is not set, it is treated as unlimited;
- a return transfer is created with one click, as a mirrored "To → From" entry;
- in Tonotel, for each order type you can choose how the taxi meter behaves with transfers: don't use it for them, use it only for them, or charge for extra time and distance beyond the fixed price;
- the fixed price works for a two-point route. If the passenger asks for a stop on the way, the ride is calculated at the regular tariff with zones, and you can set a separate surcharge for each intermediate stop.
Matrix tariff
If there are many destinations, a matrix tariff is more convenient: for each pair of zones you set three prices: pickup, intermediate leg and final leg. For routes with stops you choose the logic: charge each leg from the previous point (A → B → C = AB + BC) or from the starting point (AB + AC). This kind of tariff suits companies serving the districts and villages around a small town.
Intercity taxi fare: how to calculate the price
There are two approaches to intercity rides.
Approach 1. Rate per km with compensation for the return trip
Formula (simplified): price = one-way distance × rate per km × (1 + share of return trip charged) + waiting + stops.
Illustrative example. The neighbouring town is 120 km away. The company charges 10 per kilometre for intercity rides and compensates half of the return trip.
| Step | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| One-way trip | 120 × 10 | 1,200 |
| Return trip compensation (50%) | 1,200 × 0.5 | 600 |
| 20 minutes waiting at destination | 20 × 2 | 40 |
| Total | 1,840 |
If there is a chance of picking up a return order in the neighbouring town, you can lower the compensation share to make the price more competitive.
Approach 2. Tiered per-km scale
For long rides, the rate per kilometre falls with distance. For example (illustrative): the first 10 km at 14, from 10 to 50 km at 11, anything beyond 50 km at 9. Each band is charged at its own rate, and you can add a fixed amount for entering a band, for instance as a fee for leaving the city. This lets you set up a single tariff that prices both short out-of-town trips and long ones fairly.
For regular routes (the airport, the regional centre, a resort) a fixed price is still more convenient: it's easier for the customer to decide and easier for the dispatcher to quote over the phone.
Example: a ride from the city to a suburb
Illustrative tariff: base fare 60 with 2 km included, city rate 14 per km, out-of-town zone at 18 per km with a return surcharge of 40. For simplicity, minutes are ignored.
The ride: 6 km in the city, then 8 km through the out-of-town zone to a village.
| Step | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Base fare | includes 2 km | 60 |
| City kilometres | (6 − 2) × 14 | 56 |
| Out-of-town kilometres | 8 × 18 | 144 |
| Return surcharge | destination is in the zone | 40 |
| Total | 300 |
At the city tariff, this ride would have cost 60 + 12 × 14 = 228. The difference of 72 is the compensation for the empty trip back and the time spent outside the city.
Conditional surcharges: demand, time of day, driver shortage
Apart from zone rates, you can raise the price automatically depending on the situation. In Tonotel a surcharge is tied to the pickup zone and switches on under a condition:
- always (for example, a permanent surcharge for a remote district);
- manually, when the dispatcher turns it on from the workstation;
- many cancelled, overdue or unassigned orders in the zone over a period;
- a shortage of available drivers in the zone;
- the customer has cancelled orders since their last completed one.
A surcharge has a time window and days of the week, and only one applies: the first matching one by priority. You can also create a separate night or holiday tariff: each tariff is tied to days of the week and hours of the day.
How to organise intercity orders
- A separate order type. Create an "Intercity" or "Airport" order type with its own tariffs. That way these orders don't mix with city orders in dispatching or in reports.
- A separate phone number. A call to a dedicated number can immediately create an order of the right type, so the dispatcher doesn't need to select anything.
- Advance bookings. Intercity rides are more often booked in advance, so set how long before pickup the order appears for the dispatcher and when the driver search begins.
- The right drivers. Allow the order type only for drivers who are willing to go long distances, and specify the required vehicle type.
- Transparency for the customer. Show the minimum ride price in the app. If customers are allowed to raise the price within set limits, a long-distance order will find a driver faster.
For companies in small towns, intercity and suburban rides often make up a noticeable share of revenue: city rides there are short, while long-distance orders noticeably raise the average fare.
Out-of-town and intercity tariff setup checklist
- [ ] Fare zones are drawn: city, suburbs, airport, neighbouring towns, with no overlaps or gaps.
- [ ] Out-of-town zones have their own per-km and per-minute rates.
- [ ] Pickup and return surcharges are set where drivers come back empty.
- [ ] Transfers in both directions are set up for popular routes.
- [ ] Transfers specify limits for included time, distance and waiting.
- [ ] A taxi meter mode for transfers is selected.
- [ ] A tiered per-km scale is set up for long rides.
- [ ] An intermediate-stop surcharge is set for routes with stops.
- [ ] Separate order types exist for intercity and airport rides.
- [ ] Test calculations have been run on 5–10 real routes, including routes with stops.
If you are still choosing a system, check whether it supports zones, transfers, matrix and tiered tariffs.
Frequently asked questions
How are out-of-town taxi rates calculated?
Most often the area outside the city is set up as a separate fare zone with its own rate per kilometre and per minute, and a surcharge is added for pickups from the zone or rides into it to compensate for empty mileage. Popular routes get a fixed price between zones.
How do I calculate an intercity taxi fare?
Take the one-way distance, multiply it by the rate per km and add compensation for the return trip if the driver will come back empty. Then account for waiting and extra stops. For regular routes it is easier to set a fixed price so the customer and the dispatcher know it in advance.
Why is an out-of-town taxi more expensive than a city ride?
The driver will most likely return without a passenger, and the way back also costs fuel and time. There are also fewer orders outside the city, so the car goes longer without earning. An out-of-town surcharge or a separate suburban rate makes up for these losses.
Which is better for intercity rides: a fixed price or a per-km rate?
A fixed price is clearer for customers and convenient for frequent routes, such as to the airport or a neighbouring town. Per-km pricing with a tiered scale is more flexible for occasional routes. Many companies combine the two: fixed transfers on popular routes and an out-of-town tariff for everything else.
Does a fixed price still apply if the passenger needs a stop on the way?
It depends on the software. In Tonotel a fixed transfer price applies to a two-point route. If an intermediate stop is added, the ride is calculated at the regular tariff with zones and the intermediate-stop surcharge, so that tariff needs some thought too.
Conclusion
An out-of-town or intercity tariff has to pay not only for the way there but also for the way back. There are clear tools for this: zones with their own rates, pickup and return surcharges, fixed transfers, matrix and tiered tariffs, and demand-based surcharges. Start with 3–5 popular routes, price them using the formula from this article, test them on real routes, and only then expand your zone grid.