DRIVE A2B May 2018

driver jumped out of the car,
the thief also stole his taxi.
• A 56 year old driver was
bashed on the head with
a bottle, by his female
passenger, when he arrived at
Southland Shopping Centre
and asked for the fare.
Thank goodness these attacks
happened in taxis which have
security cameras, thus enabling
the Police to do their job, catch and
charge these offenders. Hate to
think of what would be the result if
a Hire Car driver was put in a similar
situation and attacked. Of course
I hope that this doesn’t happen -
but it does make a lot of sense to
have a security camera fitted in all
Commercial Passenger Vehicles.
GREENHOUSE
GASES
A National Center for Sustainable
Transportation in USA last month
released the findings of their
research into “The Effects of
Ride Hailing Services on Travel
and Associated Greenhouse Gas
Emissions”. Here is an excerpt of
the summary:-
However, the evidence available as
of the fall of 2017 suggests that
ride-hailing, as currently used in
U.S. cities, is contributing to a net
increase in vehicle miles per travel
and associated emissions;
As a result, policy makers may want
to evaluate policies that support
the use of ride-hailing services for
first and last mile service to transit
and for disadvantaged populations
(low income, disabled, and without
vehicles) to access basic services
and opportunities, for example,
through subsidized fares.
Outside of dense city areas, policy
makers may want to explore
restrictions on ride-hailing services
or distance-based pricing policies
to minimize empty vehicle travel
and support transit use. Inside
dense city areas, curb-based pricing
policies for pick-up and drop-off
access may offset lost parking
revenues and continued use of
transit.
Policies should also be considered
that encourage ride-hailing drivers
to use electric vehicles.
What a great recommendation
- ride hailing drivers should use
electric vehicles! If we must have
more vehicles on the road, at least
they wouldn’t be contributing to
the greenhouse gases.
THINK FIRST
There has been a lot of talk
recently about a new rail link to
Melbourne Airport.
Peter Martin of The Age stated in
a recent article “Often it’s better to
do nothing, or little. Infrastructure
Victoria says the Melbourne rail link
would deliver passengers slower
than could the existing SkyBus
with priority signaling.”
Productivity Commission chairman
Peter Harris has a three-stage rule
when it comes to infrastructure.
1. Identify the problem, then
2. identify the least-cost solution,
then
3. take a deep breath.
Perhaps if this rationale had
been applied to the Melbourne
Airport rail link, the SkyBus service
could have been investigated
and updated first. Also widening
of roads is not always the best
solution. It creates such havoc
during the construction, and then
when they are finished more
people use the roads, so we are
right back where we started -
congested. Perhaps instigating
a congestion tax first might have
been more prudent.
It is strongly recommended by
many, that the government needs
to listen to Infrastructure Victoria
before they go steam-rolling
ahead and make commitments
for new rail links.
Mrs Toni Peters
DRIVE A2B Editor
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DRIVE A2B magazine · May 2018
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