MANCHESTER – Manchester taxi drivers are petitioning City Hall for the right to raise cab fares, another sign of the heavy toll that rising gas prices have taken on the local economy.

Fares would go up by 50 cents a mile under the proposal outlined in the drivers' petition. The current rate is $1.50 a mile, plus a $3 riding fee. It was set eight years ago, when the cost of gas in New England was less than half of what it is today.

"Gas is only going up," said John Murray Jr., the Radio Cab driver who circulated the petition, "and it's going to get to the point where I can't afford to do this job anymore. And I won't."

The petition is signed by 14 drivers, a number that accounts for roughly half the taxi drivers working in Manchester, according to Ken DeSchuiteneer, the owner of Radio Cab. DeSchuiteneer, who has lobbied for a fare hike before, said he continues to believe a hike is necessary to keep the drivers on the road, and the cab companies afloat.

"If the city won't give a rate increase pretty quick," he said, "there won't be any cab drivers out there."

The petition is being referred to the aldermanic Committee on Administration and Information Systems. Alderman Mike Garrity, who sits on the committee, said he believes it's time for a fare increase.

"I don't begrudge any cabbie. They're out to make a buck," Garrity said. His father, he noted, used to drive a taxi.

The cost of regular gasoline in the Manchester area is $3.70 a gallon, up 26 percent since May 2007, according to AAA's Web site. The spike has been hard on just about everyone who uses the roads, from families to businesses to the public agencies that run the buses serving cities and schools.

Coincidentally, Manchester's bus agency is weighing a 25 percent fare increase, the result of proposed budget cuts.

Yesterday, a passenger in Murray's cab became upset as she listened to Murray talk about the proposed fare increase for taxis. The passenger, a waitress who takes the taxi to work and back, left the cab in a huff, telling Murray, "I'll walk to work."

"I feel bad for her," Murray said later. "I hate to see this happen to our customers. But I've got no choice. I really don't."

DeSchuiteneer estimated the proposed fare hike would, on average, put an extra $20 a night in each cab driver's pocket. Radio Cab drivers pay for their own fuel, which can cost as much as $40 a shift. They also pay to lease one of DeSchuiteneer's cabs. DeSchuiteneer charges $110 a day and says he can't afford to go any lower.

Those costs have made it difficult for cab companies to recruit and keep drivers, he said.

"I have at least three cars sitting in my lot every shift," DeSchuiteneer said. "Which I have to insure, by the way."

Hank Pineault, a driver and dispatcher for another local cab company, Queen City Taxi, said his co-workers support the fare increase, too. "We've been waiting for it," he said.

Aldermen approved a temporary 50-cent-a-mile fare hike in the summer of 2006, when gas prices soared to $2.90 a gallon — a shocking figure at the time. The increase lapsed in the fall, when the price of fuel dipped.

Alderman At-Large Dan O'Neil, chairman of the Administration and Information Systems Committee, said he is willing to consider a fare increase.

"I'm fine," he said, "if the increase goes to the drivers and not to the companies."

Garrity said he would want to make sure the cab companies were keeping their cars in good working order. City taxi cabs have routinely failed their semi-annual inspections, he noted.

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