Long Awaited improvements to taxi services

Devil_n_Disquiz said :

Waiting For Godot said :

Has anybody seen that grossly obese driver who can barely fit into the cab? That turned me off taxis forever.

I am thinking you refer to Steven. Poor fellow. He has a medical condition which while doesn’t impact on his ability to hold a C endorsement on his license, has the rather unfortunate result in him being ‘larger than average’.

I won’t go into it too much except to say he was a passenger on UA811 in 1989 and was seated two rows behind some seats that went missing.

AG Canberra said :

Given a set of plates still costs upwards of 200K, it will be interesting to see if anyone actually decides to take up the offer of a new set. The industry keeps saying how there is no money in the industry and how tough they are doing it – if that is the case then none of these will be sold….

None will be sold. They are govt leased plates. $20000 a year. More income for the govt so of course they are keen to see more plates on.
Yes they will be taken up. Will they stay out there ?

That remains to be seen. January has been very quiet with average takings per driver/operator being in the order of $100-$150 a shift. Or $50-$75 a shift if you are just the driver. Out of that $50-$75 a day you can then take out GST and PAYG and thats what you are left with. The operator can take out fuel, maintenance, GST, PAYG, Base fees, Insurances, Rego etc etc etc out of his. Given that it costs $220 a day for a taxi before you even get it out the driveway,,,you can see Jan is a great month for making money.
Hopefully this will see those 25 plates back on the shelf in double quick time. Perhaps then Stanhope will melt them down and make some pretty public art with them.

I wonder if Steven knows he’s become a public figure.
Just shows that people shouldn’t form opinions or judgements on things they know nothing about.
But it looks like becoming the national sport.

I agree with the sentiments about Stanhope’s abiding interests.
But I have to disagree about the future of 25 new taxis .

This is because the real number is 25 new ones, plus the 16 that have already been returned to Government by the poor bastards who went broke thinking that a Government-endorsed enterprise was a relatively safe opportunity.
Then there’s the 4 wheelchair accessible taxis that were also returned by now-unemployed and broke participants in that Government enterprise.
Plus there’s the next 25, later this year, that will go to another 25 geniuses who think they’re smarter than the last lot that went broke.

All-up 70 new potential bankrupts.
Plus any number of existing taxi operators who will also become casualties along the way.

It’s all good news.

jase! said :

after watching a bit of Win news i have finally managed to get to the keyboard after laughing like a loon.

what caused this much mirth? the goatee’d taxi spokesman comparing waiting in a waiting room for a doctor to waiting for a cab and if we are prepared to wait for one then we should have no problem waiting for the other.

nothing like treating your customers with contempt, it isn’t that acceptable to wait for a tardy doctor but having to wait the best part of an hour for a cab at the airport is ridiculous

Exactly what I was going to say!

I don’t pretend to understand the systems – and it’s not my job to know. All I know is a sub 15-minute taxi drive to the airport at 5am is $50. I then get out in Melbourne and travel about 5 times the distance and it’s LESS than the Canberra leg.

karmacarrier said :

Let’s put some myths to rest.

1. Not all taxi drivers come from Somalia, have bad hygeine, can’t drive or don’t know their way around. Good story but lacks honesty.

Lacks honesty ?

2 years in Canberra I have been unlucky enough to experience atleast one negative or objectionable thing from your little list.

Of note – the chap who was from Somalia

*did know how to drive (better than many other people in Australia)
*didn’t smell
*spoke effective good english
*mostly knew the way around

Was a fair bit off his head on khat… some of our conversation was weird (could have been his fatigue or the fact that he was off his face a bit).

And I could that as one of the best taxi trips I’ve ever had.

Waiting For Godot said :

Has anybody seen that grossly obese driver who can barely fit into the cab? That turned me off taxis forever.

I am thinking you refer to Steven. Poor fellow. He has a medical condition which while doesn’t impact on his ability to hold a C endorsement on his license, has the rather unfortunate result in him being ‘larger than average’. I won’t go into it too much except to say he was a passenger on UA811 in 1989 and was seated two rows behind some seats that went missing.

AG Canberra said :

Given a set of plates still costs upwards of 200K, it will be interesting to see if anyone actually decides to take up the offer of a new set. The industry keeps saying how there is no money in the industry and how tough they are doing it – if that is the case then none of these will be sold….

None will be sold. They are govt leased plates. $20000 a year. More income for the govt so of course they are keen to see more plates on.
Yes they will be taken up. Will they stay out there ? That remains to be seen. January has been very quiet with average takings per driver/operator being in the order of $100-$150 a shift. Or $50-$75 a shift if you are just the driver. Out of that $50-$75 a day you can then take out GST and PAYG and thats what you are left with. The operator can take out fuel, maintenance, GST, PAYG, Base fees, Insurances, Rego etc etc etc out of his. Given that it costs $220 a day for a taxi before you even get it out the driveway,,,you can see Jan is a great month for making money.
Hopefully this will see those 25 plates back on the shelf in double quick time. Perhaps then Stanhope will melt them down and make some pretty public art with them.

I despise the ACT taxi service.

I had to alert the police following a ride home in which the taxi driver tried to grab me and assault me sexually ( I am a young female). I managed to get away, but ever since I have been wary of taxi drivers. In my hometown there was a big uproar following a taxi driver being stabbed and there was a big call for increased security. I think there should be increased security in Canberra cabs for both drivers and patrons. I understand how hard it is to police these type of things though, but it makes me pretty sad to think that what happened to me could happen to anyone else ( especially someone who is weaker than me, which isn’t hard).

And I agree with everyone else, it’s bloody expensive to catch a cab in the ACT.

I doubt there’s much anyone can really do about the taxi system in Canberra.

buzz819 said :

karmacarrier said :

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karmacarrier said :

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cranky said :

Something is seriously wrong here.

We have drivers describing earning $100 for a 12 hour shift, and fares charged approaching daylight robbery ($50 City to Belconnen).

Just who is making the money? Are we like the utterly corrupt NSW cab industry, who charge 10% on every credit card transaction?

Drivers are well described in above posts. Not endearing creatures, and indicative of low income earners. Don’t think they are exaggerating their poverty. Perhaps the owners would like to add their opinion to the debate? Maybe Canberra Cabs would like to open the books showing how they are existing on a miniscule income?

Massive income and no winners?

Let’s put another myth to rest.
Canberra Cabs don’t own or operate any taxis.
They are ‘middle men’.
They charge each affiliated taxi nearly $20,000 per year to connect them with prospective customers.
Through their grossly inadequate and unreliable booking and despatch systems.
Presently 300 cabs paying $20,000 each – total $6million per year.
They’re not doing it too tough – in fact they’re not doing much at all.
But that’s $20,000 each taxi has to find before getting into the black.
Read the PWC report.
Why do the taxis pay?
Because they can’t legally operate unless they are affiliated with a network.
Might be described as extortion in some other places.
Who’s getting fat while the taxi drivers get skinny?
Funny how taxis are legally required to belong to a network but Limos aren’t.
Work that one out.

Reply

after watching a bit of Win news i have finally managed to get to the keyboard after laughing like a loon.

what caused this much mirth? the goatee’d taxi spokesman comparing waiting in a waiting room for a doctor to waiting for a cab and if we are prepared to wait for one then we should have no problem waiting for the other.

nothing like treating your customers with contempt, it isn’t that acceptable to wait for a tardy doctor but having to wait the best part of an hour for a cab at the airport is ridiculous