Taxi Driver Online

Late-night Passengers To Pay For Taxi At Start Of Ride

11th September 2008

Late night taxi passengers will have to pay up front from October 1.

Passengers would have to have cash in hand for cab rides between 10pm and 5am, Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said.

She said the move would help protect drivers from aggressive passengers, and save the industry $1.7 million a year in unpaid fares.

Drivers will use a fare calculator and the Melways to estimate how much should be paid up-front.

Passengers will get a cash refund if the trip is cheaper than expected, and will be asked to pay more if the meter is more than expected.

Each year, more than 80,000 taxi passengers run off without paying when they get to their destination.

Most are males aged between 15-30 who live in the outer suburbs.

Ms Kosky admitted the new system could cause violence if drunks became angry at being asked to pay up front.

"If people are going to be unpleasant, then there's probably very little that Government can do," she said.

"What we are trying to do is make sure that taxi drivers aren't having to deal with that unpleasantness."

Veteran driver Hosmi Samaan said passengers adapted quickly to change.

"The public will have to get used to that. It's the same thing they do in the movies, it's the same thing they do everywhere else," he said.

He said most taxi drivers felt helpless about "runners" who don't pay for their ride.

"We try to avoid (confrontation). Usually when somebody jumps out and runs away we just lose the fare," he said.

Some drivers gave chase, which usually ended in violence, he said. The pay-up-front policy comes as safety screens are being installed in Melbourne's cabs.

They were promised by the State Government after a cabbies' protest blocked Flinders St in April.

The protest came after a near-fatal stabbing of a driver.


Source; sunherald.com.au

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Kind regards,

Brummie Cabbie.

Type a message, post your news,
Disagree with other members' views;
But please, do have some decorum,
When debating on the TDO Forum.

It has it's plus points.

But will lead to aggro when the pi**heads say they gave you too much, or they said it would be this address, not that address.

Maybe CCTV would help out, but if you had CCTV then one wonders how many runners you will get?

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IDFIMH

I cannot understand all the fuss, although it is not rubber stamped by the Gov it already happens in this country - if they do not like it or kick off - then walk.

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if you cannot be yourself, then who can you be.

if a passenger is a regular runner from taxis then this idea will be good as it will stop the regular runners from even getting into a taxi as they know they have to pay upfront
the genuine passengers will get used to the change as they do with night rate times and price increases,paying upfront will not be a problem after a while.
i always ask for fare upfront if its over around 20 pounds or go outside the city boundary

I think this is common practise in most places nowadays.

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http://wingsoverscotland.com/ http://www.newsnetscotland.com/

We already have signs on our base that warns passengers that they may be asked to pay up front and some of the drivers have notices in their cars. I suppose I've been lucky as I've only had 5 runners in 8 years

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!