Cab Cops

For Sydney taxi passengers it's worth knowing that the Ministry of Transport actively polices cabs and drivers. Whilst appearing anywhere they regularly attend locations involving large movements of passengers and cabs. Recently I noted their presence after the One Day Cricket International, monitoring the Fox Studios cab rank.

On Sunday evening I pulled into an Airport terminal rank to be greeted by two female passengers with golf clubs and luggage. It was obvious they needed a station wagon and fortunately one arrived behind me. One woman was sharp enough to immediately request a swap with a passenger destined for the station wagon. Done, too easy.

However the wagon driver stayed seated in his cab whilst the women started loading their own luggage. From nowhere a non-uniformed bloke was at the cabbie's window, flashed a badge and challenged him for not helping the women load up. Later I spotted this official climbing into a Ministry of Transport vehicle (click image). 

So if you think cabbies can pretty much do as they like, they can't and never know when 'cab cops' will suddenly appear. Cabbies are answerable to the Police, the RTA, Ministry of Transport, Taxi Council, taxi networks, Airport marshals, taxi rank security, council parking inspectors...sheesh. And that's even before cabbies get home for more grilling! 

Comments

[Paul Pluta]

Yeh.... I think you should not be so quick to judge the cabby. He possibly has back problems and therefore can not work the bags. Cab driving is $10- an hour work and now you want the sorry s-o-b to do the porter routine? As for the government inspectors..... you think these clowns on $65,000 a year for a 36.25 hour week have any idea of the difficulties facing cab drivers? Personally I have no time for petty government jerks......

Then they wonder why nobody wants to drive cabs..... And I thought the shocking money, crap hours were bad enough.

Seriously I can't work out why a licence to earn $10- an hour is worth $350,000-$500,000 (taxi licence). The taxi licence system was originally invented to give returned soldiers a job..... it is a long time ago that an owner could eventually buy his own cab........

Now it is just the investors, crooks like Lime and old cabbies........

What a crap industry.

[Angel]

Hey,
I read your blog often and find it informative, funny and interesting. Keep it up!

[Pedro the Ignorant]

Once again, it is the grubby and lazy few that are stuffing it up for the vast majority of cabbies.

There shouldn't be a need for government inspectors to check on whether cabbies are doing the right thing by their passengers, but get a half dozen complaints in the papers, and all of a sudden all cabbies are lazy and inconsiderate bludgers.

The downside of being constantly in the public eye.

[adrian]

Paul, I never judged the cabbie (he may well have had a valid explanation) but simply reported on a 'cab cop' event.

[Rank]

Hi there,

In Chatswood, I see the Ministry of Transport 'cab cops' patrolling the rank quite often.

It's amazing how quickly the cabbies disperse when the Ministry of Transport guys turn up. Usually this rank is a complete disgrace with cabbies double parked blocking the traffic, parked in loading zones and not bothering to give way at any of the pedestrian crossings.

It is a daily occurence to see cabbies fighting with each other in this rank, or see another poor bugger who has almost been ploughed into while crossing the road.

[Nathaniel]

Your right the cabbie may have an injury that prevents him from assisting his passengers. Does it also prevent him from at least getting out and greeting them, explaining why he needs them to load their own bag and creating a more friendly atmosphere in the process.

A cabbie recently was diagnosed with Deep vein thrombosis here in Perth the cause being he drank only coffee during his day shift in summer heat and never got out to stretch his legs

$10 an hour for the drivers/owners who work only the airport the cabbies that actually make an effort in the city/suburbs make significantly more than that I can assure you.

[Kristy]

Hi Adrian,

This is just one of the reasons why I love reading your blog. I have lost count of the number of times a cab driver has simply popped the boot for me while I am standing there with a trolley full of stuff. And somehow they always seem to make me feel bad for taking the time to pack everything in! I honestly did not know it was more than a common courtesy for them to get out of the cab to lend a hand. Thanks Adrian. I look forward to reading your blog each and every day :-)

[adrian]

Cheers, Angel.
Kristy, I understand cabbies reluctance with shopping trolleys. The loading thereof is not the issue so much but rather whether one starts the meter before loading, and stops it after unloading, meaning a difference of an extra couple of dollars.
Technically cabbies can charge for this service but most feel bad about it and so don't. Regardless, I feel they should assist anyway. Glad you enjoy the blog.