Crackdown

After recent reports of taxi passengers being scammed by dodgy cabbies, the Ministry of Transport is on the case,

ROGUE cabbies out to cash in on Christmas demand with inflated fares and other unscrupulous behaviour are to be targeted in a crackdown.

The State Government will today announce a blitz that will include undercover officers from the Ministry of Transport patrolling late-night trouble spots during the busy Christmas season.

A hotline will also be established for the public to report illegal touting by cabbies.

Inflated fares is an obvious area needing policing. Exactly how though I'm not certain. I suspect that, aside from an initial hotline report, complainants will need substantiating evidence in writing that a driver sought to negotiate, or charged an off-meter fare. Such evidence would need either corroborating witness statements or recorded conversations for fair process to occur, in order to prove a charge of touting...

A possible suggestion would be to accept the fare, pay by plastic and request a receipt. At the very least the receipt will detail the fare, the time and, with a modern meter, the localities. This can then be produced with a statutory declaration as to the journey pick-up and destination. Sure it’s convoluted but other than obtaining a witness or recording, it may be the only way of proving a off-meter fare was sought or charged.

Or passengers may elect to accept the demanded fare, then on arrival hand over the usual fare in cash stating illegal for a taxi to either tout or operate with the meter off. Easy to say for a bloke but for women alone, another matter and not recommended.

Oh, if you have a phone camera don’t hesitate to take images of the driver, his authority card and/or number plate. Even better, if he stops with his roof light on but with doors locked, then possibly use a phone video to record the conversation, roof light, number plate, etc. Granted, it all sounds like a lot of trouble at the end of a long night, but I can’t think of any other solution.

Another area of much angst is where drivers, myself included, bypass hailing passengers or cherry pick fares. Here a distinction needs to be made between lawful and unlawful practise. A driver is entitled to refuse a fare if the Vacant roof light is off...

Passenger Transport (Taxi-cab Services) Regulation 2001

55. Driver of taxi-cab to accept hiring :

(1)  Subject to this clause, the driver of a taxi-cab that is available for hire must accept a hiring immediately when offered. (Maximum penalty: 5 penalty units)

Yet many drivers illegally cherry pick fares with their Vacant roof light on, indicating available for hire, which really pisses passengers off, understandably.

If I'm about to finish work to return for changeover, then I may stop for a hail to see if they’re headed my way, but only with my roof light off. Or I may want to head to a certain area for my dinner break, or gas up, or have a coffee break. Or I may simply want to check that the hailees comply with sub-section (2) of the above regulation.

However I doubt the Ministry of Transport intends changing the taxi operating regulations. We’ll see if there’s any further information in today’s announcement.

UPDATE : Hotline launched

Comments

[jhgtf647]

"Inflated fares is an obvious area needing policing. Exactly how though I'm not certain."

If the same driver has a disproportinate number of complaints it should be taken into consideration. If you have five or ten unrelated witnesses saying they were cheated against the driver claiming innocence it would be much more convincing than if there was just one passenger saying it.

The key to combating the problem is to educate the passengers about what their rights are, how they can protect their rights, and how to report abuses. Maybe signs in cabs with that information would help.

[Sean]

Tried to get a cab from the Holiday Inn Mascot, 2 weeks ago, a short trip down the road to work but I needed to get there fast. 2 Taxi's in the rank. The first driver told me to try the next guy in line as he had been waiting for 40 mins (and wanted a decent fare i guess).

[south coast mick]

sean you should have just got in and said bad lucky buddy take me,if the cabbie is so stupid and such a usless cab driver that he would sit on a motel rank for 40 min well tough shit.

[Skyring]

I took a fare to the airport (in Canberra) the other day, and she told me about these Sydney cabbies who are charging inflated fares. I was horrified. So far as I'm concerned, what's on the meter is the maximum. I'll occasionally reduce a fare for one reason or another, or accept a tip, or even negotiate an out of area fare, but slugging the passenger extra is out of the question.

However, I am sorry to say that this practice is not unique to Sydney. I've heard reports of Canberra passengers being charged $100 for a meter-off trip from Tuggeranong to Civic, which is only a $40 fare.

This sort of thing goes beyond regulations and internal discipline. It is criminal behaviour.

[PQ]

A bit off topic, Adrian, but I read a comment in the SMH claiming that the taxi meter is regulated by the flow of petrol to the engine, so some cabbies rev the engine excessively to rev up the meter.

This sounds a little like a crackpot theory to me, but I have often been wrong before.
Can you confirm/deny this petrol flow business?

Actually, a few lines on just how the taxi meter operates (time, distance, rates etc) would be interesting to some of us.

Yep, I admit I am a "pull it to bits" stickybeak :-)

[Yobbo]

Either you are a public service or not.

If you are a public service, you should have to pick up everyone regardless of the status of your roof light.

If you are a private operator, you should not have the government protect you with quotas and price fixing.

You can't have it both ways.

[adrian]

Jhgtf647, If the same driver has a disproportinate number of complaints it should be taken into consideration. If you have five or ten unrelated witnesses saying they were cheated against the driver claiming innocence it would be much more convincing than if there was just one passenger saying it.
Yes, this could be a valid method of identifying problem drivers.

PQ, the meter definitely does not operate on engine revs. A driver excessively reving motor is only using up gas. That said, I think the meter runs off the differential measuring distance via axle revolutions. Plus it has a second mode operating on waiting time. Hence two rates are applied during a hiring, distance and time.

The time rate kicks in when the vehicle is travelling below 26kph, or stopped at lights etc. The distance rate of $1.68 per klm above 26 kph equates to 72c per min. below 26 kph. Yet drivers lose money in slow traffic by virture of being delayed in starting a new fare, for the $2.90 flag fall. The more hirings per hour the more flag falls.

Yobbo, you've identified the contradiction that is a taxi service. Taxis are classed as public transport, yet the operators/drivers are independents. The Taxation Dept classes us as a small business working without gauranteed wages or conditions. Whilst drivers must adhere to government regulations, they also have much automony regarding when, where and how they operate. It's this last element which makes taxi driving so attractive to many rather than the monetary return, myself included.

[south coast mick]

now i've heard it all meters running on engine revs,i hope adrian's comment cleared that one up.Adrian i drove in sydney last saturday nite took..(heaps)..for my 13 hour shift all on the meter these rouges that charge these inflated prices for jobs should be run out of the industry(and country for we all know they have not been here long)because at this time of year the money is there without ripping people off.(and boy have i heard some stories from fares about the practices of certain drivers of non english speaking backgrounds)

Mick, I decided to edit your comment as a general security precaution for drivers. Adrian.

[Danny1]

noone concern on normal quite nights, a cabbie wait for a fare for 40 minuts,god knows how large the fare is.

[ken nielsen]

Adrian:
Something that has bothered me about Sydney taxis. There seems to be an increasing number of premium service cabs - Silver Service and the like - about. They are larger cars so must cost more to buy and run. Yet they charge no more.
I don't understand the economics. Why would an owner put one of these on the road?
What am I missing?

[Yobbo]

Ken: Larger cars last longer than smaller ones. Generally the bigger the engine the more kms it will do before dying.

And since the drivers pay for their own fuel costs, not the owners, it's the drivers that are taking the hit by driving a larger car. This might be partly offset by getting more tips in a "premium service" cab, but I don't know that for sure.

[Lee]

Restaurants, eating houses, hotels and the like are 'public services'...I believe all should have the right to say 'no', the same as taxi drivers have the right to say 'no'.

If a store, restaurant etc., has its doors closed and lights off, they shouldn't have to serve the public just because they're standing outside peering in.

[adrian]

Ken, premium cabs like Silver Service were created by the networks to provide a better vehicle and driver than normal cabs, at standard cab rates. They are in response to both the competition of luxury hire cars and the crap service once prevalent in normal cabs.

Therefore premium cabs cater to those who can afford hire cares and those with an aversion to normal cabs. The networks ensure premium cabs are profitable by allocating them the best and longest radio fares, leaving the local scraps to normal cabs.

Also some premium cabs (illegally) charge a $10 flag fall to account work and corporate fares, who were once the domain of normal cabs or hire cars. Not only do premium drivers hoard the best jobs amongst themselves, using mobile phones, but there's anecdotal evidence some drivers are involved in a racket to secure the best radio work, at the expense of normal cabs.

However at times of high demand when it's more profitable to do short jobs, I often get premium fares who've been dumped by their regular premium cabs. Hence premium service doesn't necessarily include loyalty.

Ironically though, after carrying these premium passengers, I’ve judged driving a normal cab provides me with richer Cablog content.

Yobbo, NSW taxis are restricted by age irrespective of durability. Regulations state a vehicle be no more than 6 years old. There also used to be a 600,000 kilometre limit. The advantage of a larger vehicle would be as a taxi service attracting premium passengers, and marginally per re-sale value as a normal car.

[Kevin]

How about a crack down on rogue passengers as well just to be fair ? Ministry of transport couldn't care less about fare evaders or assaults on drivers, but a cabbie overcharges and they burst in life. I'm not excusing the bad drivers behaviour just be fair to both sides.

[Yobbo]

Yes, by all means let's crack down on people trying to get home after a night out. The filthy criminals.

[rob]

'MULTIPLE HIRING' is the only way to go on these busy nights, why should a cabbie take one taxi hogging passenger when he can take four??, the way it works in victoria is that the taxi picks up separate fares going to a similar destination at the one rank and charges each party 75% of the fare, it has to have the consent of the first and susequent passengers, so the best way to get this is to wind down the window and ask 'are ya happy to share' instead of where ya going' before they get in...
P.S this system works best with an 11 seat maxicab- do the maths... say 6 paying paties times three quarters of the fare each, equals four times the meter to the driver and the other half the meter to the owner (on a 50-50 split)