Department of Transport Annual Report 2010 - 2011

Departmental desired outcome 1: An accessible and safe transport system
DoT’s responsibility for the accessibility and safety of the transport system derives
from the Transport Co-ordination Act 1966 (the Act). The Act confers on DoT the
responsibility for co-ordinating and planning the transport system and enabling
accessibility and safety considerations.
There are varying degrees of accessibility and safety across the agency for the
different modes of transport. For example, Marine Safety provides regulation,
education, training and compliance monitoring in regards to safety of marine
vessels, whereas accessibility to marine related infrastructure and waterways is the
responsibility of Coastal Infrastructure.
Rail safety is managed by the Office of Rail Safety, which is charged with
administering the Rail Safety Act 2010 in Western Australia and nationally as part of
a national approach to rail safety regulation. It does this by ensuring railway owners
and operators comply with regulatory standards to construct, operate and maintain
railways. Accessibility to railways is the responsibility of the owners and operators.
Accessibility to taxis is the responsibility of the Passenger Services whereby they
are responsible for ensuring an adequate taxi service is being provided to the
public of Western Australia. Safety in taxis in regards to vehicles and drivers is the
responsibility of DVS in its role in administering the Road Traffic Act 1974 and is
covered under Outcome 2 of the DoT’s outcome structure: “Vehicles and road users
that meet established vehicle standards and driver competencies”. Safety for taxi
operators and passengers not related to use on the road is the responsibility of the
Western Australia Police in its community safety role.
Accessibility to regular public transport air services is the responsibility of the
Transport Policy and Systems, which ensures adequate air services are provided to
key regional communities throughout the State. Aviation safety is controlled through
the Commonwealth Government’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority. DoT ensures all
aircraft that carry passengers for regular public transport or charter purposes within
Western Australia are licensed annually.
Effectiveness key performance indicators
Percentage of standard metropolitan (non multi-purpose) taxi jobs not covered
The Taxi Act 1994 bestows on DoT, through Passenger Services, the responsibility
of regulating Perth’s metropolitan taxi industry.
Following the 1999 National Competition Policy Review of the industry, the then DPI
introduced industry performance standards. The standards have been in place
since 1 July 2000 to ensure that the public receives acceptable levels of service and
the taxi industry is required to meet these performance standards. An independent
external consultant analyses taxi industry data, sourced from the taxi dispatch
service (TDS) providers, and reports on taxi demand and industry viability trends
as well as the performance of the taxi industry against the industry standards on a
monthly and quarterly basis.
This assessment gives DoT the ability to provide the Minister with evidence-based
policy recommendations and therefore directly assists the regulatory function of the
DoT.
The key performance indicator of taxi service is jobs not covered (JNC), which is the
percentage of total jobs going unserviced in the peak and off-peak periods.
Trends from this indicator assist with determining supply and demand requirements
for the industry and provide rationale for determining whether or not there is a
requirement to release additional taxi plates.
Industry performance is assessed by obtaining and analysing data from the two
major TDS providers in the metropolitan area. Of these, the number of customer
telephone orders placed on and advertised through the taxi company dispatch
system and the number of jobs not covered against these orders are recorded.
Percentage
of standard
metropolitan
(non multipurpose)
taxi
jobs that were
not covered.
2007-08
actual
2008-09
actual
2009-10
actual
2010-11
target
2010-11
actual
3.60% 1.79% 1.18% 1.00% 1.60%
Reasons for significant variance
During the 2010-11 year, the
demand for metropolitan taxis has
increased by 9.4 per cent (peak
and off-peak period demand
combined). As a consequence
of this increase in demand, the
percentage of jobs not covered
has also increased.
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