4. Developing the Taxi Transformation Plan - SPAD

Operator‟s feedback detailed in Chapter 2.12 comments that they have no way to check the
driving and employment history of drivers applying for jobs with them. They believe there is a
problem of rogue drivers being sacked from one company and simply moving to another
operator. Under the current licensing system there is no central database held in which to
store details of driver, vehicle and operator licences. This means that performance tracking of
individual drivers and operators is not possible. SPAD understand it is important to develop a
database system in order to track driver and vehicle history, level of experience, complaints
and enforcements and to motivate them to improve performance. SPAD will ensure the
system once operational is capable of quickly and easily running checks on drivers applying for
work with operators. This will ensure rouge drivers are removed from the industry and help in
the drive to improve quality. SPAD will link the database to the proposed new customer
feedback centre in order to make sure all reports of standards not being met are investigated
and entered into the database where appropriate.
Together these actions will provide the public and service users in particular with confidence
in the industry standards and that non compliance will be addressed appropriately,
consistently and with due proportion.
4.9.2) Industry Performance Management
The proposals set out within this transformation plan represent a significant investment from
SPAD in terms of time and resource. These proposals are set out based on the information
available and it is advised further data is collected prior to beginning a programme of
significant investment. In order to ensure SPAD as an organisation remains accountable for its
actions and investments it is also important to ensure data is collected to measure the impact
of the policies and interventions introduced once the transformation process commences.
These data will help confirm that either the policies have been effective and provide value for
money, or may indicate that a particular policy is not working as well as anticipated and
requires amending. Without collecting data on the performance of the industry SPAD will be
unable to make informed decisions.
SPAD will undertake to:
Set a number of performance indicators in order to measure progress under each of the
objectives
Set quantitative and qualitative targets for each indicator
Progress will be monitored against the targets annually
Progress notes setting out the results of the monitoring exercise will be published along
with any resulting amendment to the policies
Targets will be reviewed every two years
In addition to internal progress and monitoring it is important that customer satisfaction is
measured against performance indicators and targets. The indicators set will include:
Satisfaction with service
Proportion of telephone bookings met
Industry performance management reporting is undertaken across a range of global cities
including Sydney, Dublin and Hong Kong where it is regularly reported and used in policy
setting.
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