Follow up

Yesterday’s Sunday Telegraph published a follow up to their campaign against drivers touting for fares. Of the 82 driver's number plates the paper published the Transport Department has only been able to reprimand four of those drivers. At the time I wrote,

I’m somewhat sceptical as to how the case against the drivers can be proven. Given the complainant, a journalist, is not a compliance officer it must be very doubtful whether the exchange with said drivers can be fairly tested without supporting electronic evidence.

The four drivers reprimanded were pinged using verifiable electronic evidence - they were not logged into the network. Otherwise one imagines the remaining drivers disputed the journalist's version of events or the evidence was simply inconclusive.

FWIW here's a video showing a couple of typical exchanges with would-be passengers in Kings Cross during peak demand.

Yet the Telegraph can take consolation from the fact that their campaign has had the desired effect of cleaning up breaches of touting regulations around changeover time. Well done.

Comments

[Peter Deane]

G'day Adrian, I've been following this blog since 2006, and this is the first time I've posted. Might I say I'm AMAZED the touting rule is being enforced. I drove for seven years in Newcastle (and progressed to Radio Operator) and five of those were full time. In this time I NEVER so much as saw a transport inspector, although I did occasionally hear about them doing random checks. Needless to say the touting rule was never enforced, nor did we really need to. When you pull up at a nightclub at 3am on Friday or Saturday night, you don't need to TOUT for fares, it is, in fact, quite the opposite, requiring you to point out that you ARE only licenced to convey four (maybe five) passengers!! From the sound of your experiences it looks like the same applies.

I think it was a lot easier in Newcastle, however, the geographic area of Sydney is approximately 25 times as large, so if you do get a fare to the wrong place than where you need to changeover, you might run an hour or more late for the next driver! It only took twenty five minutes for us to get from Swansea to Shortland which are the furthest-flung points in the transport district. Do you guys actually USE the signs as referred to in the Regulations?

Keep writing top stuff - I've followed in your footsteps and started blogging last month - and you have been a BIG influence, so thanks!