DRIVE A2B March 2018

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Editorial WELCOME to the March 2018 edition of DRIVE Voice of the Victorian Point-to-Point Transport Industry Minister Jacinta Allan said last month that almost $400 million has been paid to taxi licence owners to make way for rideshare entities. She also stated that 4000 licence owners have been compensated as part of a $350 million package. But, what she omitted to say was that there were some 5700 taxis plates on the road when the payments were made and not every plate was compensated. Some people only received compensation payment for a small portion of the total plates owned - eg metropolitan owners who had 5+ plates only received the same amount as those with 4 plates - $250,000. And when she says that the compensation package was to “make way for ride share entities” she forgot to mention that the government has also removed the capping on the amount of taxi licences operating throughout Victoria. Hence we have seen an explosion of taxi licences purchased since October 2017 - an increase of 2,835 in fact . So our newly named Commercial Passenger Vehicle industry now has to compete with an extra 20,545 vehicles on the road plying for the same work as the previous legal 8,460 taxi and hire cars. Taxi Services Commission (TSC) Chairperson, Yehudi Blacher says, “I am pleased to see the commercial passenger vehicle industry working so well with the new laws and that there are more licensed vehicles, including Wheelchair Accessible Taxis, on the road”. “With more service providers entering the market we are also seeing increased choice and competition, which is a great outcome for consumers,” added Mr Blacher. Well, that’s great for the consumers Mr Blacher - but what is great about it for the suppliers within this industry? Where are the extra transportation jobs coming from for the operators and drivers to be able to make a living and feed their families? The TSC states that all Commercial Passenger Vehicle drivers are required to be accredited by the TSC. But at present anyone can complete 4 DRIVE A2B magazine · March 2018
the on-line driver application and, due to the fact that there is such a huge backlog of applications, they can actually start driving for taxis or hire cars without being accredited by the TSC. How is this fair to the travelling public? How is it safe for customers to be riding in the same vehicle as these unaccredited drivers? It’s not! These drivers should not be granted carte blanche permission to drive a commercial passenger vehicle without accreditation. It’s not right to allow that! TSC states that all vehicles operating within the commercial passenger vehicle industry must be licenced as either a Taxi or a Hire Car. Once again, this is not what is actually happening. There are still vehicles on the road with private Victorian plates operating as taxis sporting 13CABS livery. There are others operating as Hire Cars who are wearing South Australian private plates and even some vehicles are operating in Melbourne metro areas with NSW HC plates. How can this be allowed to continue? Surely VicRoads needs to step in, even if TSC won’t. The Victorian state government approved a new bill last month giving VicRoads the ability to grant permits to individuals or organisations wanting to conduct on road trials of automated vehicles. All driverless vehicle trials will require a human supervisor to monitor the vehicle from either inside or outside the vehicle. Later on, when it has been established that the vehicle can drive safely, the supervisory conditions may be removed. This is a great step in the right direction. It’s fantastic to see our government embracing technology and especially one such as building and trialling autonomous vehicles. A recently study by mapping firm HERE Technologies surveyed people living within 50km of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide and found that 56 per cent of Australians were now considering ditching their cars in favour of other options. The report also found 71.8 per cent of Australians were willing to change their commuting habits to help relieve congestion, and 28.5 per cent said they now used public transport more often than before because of the traffic. But we all must be careful in jumping on the autonomous vehicle wagon - just because they don’t have drivers in them, doesn’t mean they are more eco-friendly! In fact using autonomous vehicles could actually prove to increase road congestion rather than relieve it. Toni Peters | EDITOR Views expressed in any article in DRIVE A2B magazine are those of the individual contributor and not necessarily those of the publisher. The publisher cannot accept any responsibility for any opinions, information, errors or omissions in this publication. To the extent permitted by law, the publisher will not be liable for any damages including special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages (including but not limited to economic loss or loss of profit or revenue or loss of opportunity) or indirect loss or damage of any kind arising from the contract, tort or otherwise, even if advised of the possibility of such loss of profits or damage. Advertisements must comply with the relevant provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. Responsibility for compliance with the Act rests with the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement. DRIVE A2B TM is wholly owned by Trade Promotions Pty Ltd. © Trade Promotions Pty Ltd 2017. All rights reserved. Copyright of articles and photographs in DRIVE A2B TM remains with the individual contributors and may not be reproduced without permission. DRIVE A2B magazine · March 2018 5
Page 1 and 2: DRIVE Voice of the Victorian Point-
Page 3: CONTENTS WHAT’S INSIDE 6 Victoria
Page 7 and 8: Industry Statistics These figures a
Page 9 and 10: ARE YOU PUTTING A TAXI ON THE ROAD?
Page 11 and 12: The proposed class action being led
Page 13 and 14: proceeds from the lease of the Port
Page 15 and 16: ACCIDENT COVER FOR THE VICTORIAN CO
Page 17 and 18: The Victorian state government last
Page 19 and 20: EXPRESS POOL is all about getting m
Page 21 and 22: 2018 INTERNATIONAL TAXI CONFERENCE
Page 23 and 24: A Technology company that offers ri
Page 25 and 26: WIN DOUBLE PASS THE WIZARD OF OZ Th
Page 27 and 28: SELF DRIVING CARS Hi def maps for a
Page 29 and 30: VTA no longer represents Metro BY J
Page 31 and 32: Sick of driving old Fords? CHEAP is
Page 33 and 34: WEST AUSTRALIA 10% Levy in danger o
Page 35 and 36: Driver Adverts want a driver? want
Page 37: SOUTH KOREA Among foreign tourists,
Page 40 and 41: Major Events FORMULA 1 2018 ROLEX A
Page 42 and 43: Classifieds advertise HERE Only $35
Page 44: ANNUAL ROADWORTHY INSPECTIONS VicRo

DRIVE A2B March 2018

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