23 February 2008

Canberra Taxis

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The ABC Stateline program has tonight highlighted the paucity of cabs at the airport, particularly mornings.

Scenes of queues 200 people long, and travellers pretty cross at the lack of cabs. One interviewee reckoned he will take his business to Newcastle next time.

The arogant inebriate reckons another heap of cab licenses will do the trick, the industry reckon there are not enough drivers, and the congestion is also to blame.

Fares are high. Service is appalling. Where does the blame lie?

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They should troop all those arrivals out onto the main road, with bits of cardboard with their destinations on. The traffic heading from the east into Canberra comes to a standstill from 8am onwards right outside the airport. the arrivals could be shuffled into cars heading their way with minimal disruption to traffic!

I drove a cab for a bit .. for StGeorge in Sydney. Then they brought in the new cars – HQ Holdens. What a piece of crap that made-for-taxi-thing was. Pleasant job back then.

Firstly, There are two forms of public transport in this town.which makes the problem a lack of public transport options.

Secondly, the chaos at the airport is largely the result of poor management and greed. Both on the part of the Airport’s owner and the local Government.

Also couple with these things the fact that between 8.00am and 9,00am each weekday morning about 8 planes arrive. These flights are usually 90-100% full of people travelling into Canberra for work or business.

@ Swaggie – I don’t know what assessments employers have made of the BBP amenities before leasing space out there, but my guess is that two main factors are in play: (a) a lot of the decisions are made by corporate areas of government departments who are sending parts of their organisation there and not going themselves; but more importantly, (b) there is just no office space available anywhere in Canberra. A year or two ago I had teams split across different buildings and was working (in a public service job) in a space over the top of a coffee shop, because there was just nothing else for rent. So I think most of the decisions about leasing at BBP are driven by an urgent need for office space, even if the amenities are poor.

Re taxis – if I’m travelling for any period less than three days I take my car to the airport and leave it in the long-stay park, because it is SO much easier than waiting for a taxi. And yeah, I always cruise by the taxi queue on my way out to see whether I can offer a lift, only I drive a two-seater, so can’t always help.

Try this for an idea (until the airport traffic management people wise up and flood the zone with an army of fluoro-vested bullies …): In some parts of the US, they call it ‘slugging’. People needing a ride hang out at a designated area, perhaps near the Virgin Blue arrivals area where there is lots of space, and if you’re going back into town after dropping someone off, you could roll by, call out your destination and offer a ride. Alternatively, pick up a few riders as you come out of the arrivals area on your way back to the car park. Potentially could pick up a few bucks for parking or petrol and stick it right up the property developers, er, airport owners responsible for this mess. Plus you’re helping cut down on traffic in the area and cutting your carbon emissions. I know people will throw up all sorts of legal issues. But in the Washington DC area, one of the most litigious-minded cities in America, the slugging system works well and with a minimum of fuss because everyone has a common interest (in this case, escaping the airport in a timely manner).

I saw that Tele headline posted outside the newsagent today. I hope they sheeted the blame where it belongs. Perhaps Malcolm Farr tried to get a taxi and was getting his revenge.

Because the airport put being an Airport on the back burner while it lept into property development, it has created a situation where the airport cannot function properly.

Canberra Airport made the front page of the Daily Tele today – the first paragraph really gives the flavour of the article:

Agonising delays and “disgraceful” services have forced frustrated passengers, business and tourism leaders to slam Canberra International Airport as a “joke”.

The taxi queues also feature prominently in the article.

neanderthalsis10:28 am 25 Feb 08

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again… What this town needs is a LIGHT RAIL system linking major centres. A tram / train to the airport that links Parkes/Barton, Civic, Belco, Woden and even the outer-boondocks at Tuggeranong would certainly ease traffic congestion.

Re Skidbladnir’s suggestion – I dropped a friend and her kiddies off in the morning last year and acutally thought of leaving via the taxi line to offer lifts to Woden except I was in her car not mine. It’s a good idea tho.

Anyone who’s ever had to deal with EITHER Aerial or Cab Xpress for booking wheelchair access transport will probably be joining me in a wry smile at the problems experienced by “normal” taxi users.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy9:27 am 25 Feb 08

I’m a big fan of having shuttle buses running from the airport. Devising an itinerary is not difficult – ask people who have ever spent time delivering pizza (as I did for 4 years whilst in undergrad uni, many years ago). You could then offer special taxi licenses to drivers of 12 seat minibuses, which would charge passengers by destination (ie 5 different destinations, 5 fares). It would work especially well if the guy who stands at the front of the taxi line could say “Tuggeranong people in this van, Woden people this van, City people that van, etc”.

There were people in the taxi line interviewed on Stateline that were aksing for locals to do what I’ve done a few times recently…

If you’re there to drop someone off or pick someone up, and don’t mind a minor detour on the way home, scream out to the queue where you’re headed and tell them its conditional on getting them to pay your airport parking ($2 for six minutes?) or chip in for fuel.

Occasionally someone will pay you a fortune for the convenience of you dropping them off in Civic\Woden\Tuggeranong, where you were headed anyway.

A certain gov’t department has the taxi numbers programed into the phone at the reception desk. There’s quite a few of them, but the reception people always recommend a certain company. It’s not Aerial and their badge-engineered entities.

Ruby Wednesday10:17 pm 24 Feb 08

We used the Silver Service option when we went overseas in December. The car was booked a week in advance. 8 am came…no car. Called the contact number who said they’d lost all their bookings and a car (a regular taxi) would be sent immediately. An hour of standing outside becoming increasingly pissed off, still no taxi. But for the willingness of a friend’s mother to come take us to the airport, we would have missed our flight to Sydney at the very least and perhaps our connection to LA. We had travel insurance, but it’s still a pain in the arse. I wrote a letter to Silver Service to complain, and they wrote back saying they’re ‘investigating’. I’ll believe it when I see it. Luckily I’m a paranoid traveller who leaves loads of time at the airport (Though when we finally got there, Qantas put us on a flight that was departing right then as storms were rolling in. Not a fun day!)

—> If you want to wait for 10-30 minutes waiting for somebody to speak to, say ‘AGENT’.

—> If you would like our voice-recognition system to make an incorrect/un verified booking, say ‘EXPRESS’.

Agree, RuffnReady, something like the US airport shuttles, which are vans. Some have a booking desk at the airport where you put in your request, others just come and stop at the van stop, you all discuss with the driver where you are going, he devises an itinerary and in you all hop. Takes a bit longer depending on where your destination comes in the itinerary, but it’s effective and cheap. $20 into Manhatten from JFK some years back, $38 from SLC airport to Park City… You tip the driver to make up his wages. makes ’em very helpful.

As others have said, cab driving is a very marginal industry, and a difficult one to regulate properly because of the:
1. interaction of the price of fares, demand, and driver wages;
2. the patchiness of the work – morning (7.30-9.30am) and afternoon (4-6) weekday rushes, Friday and Saturday nights aside, at any given time much of the fleet is sitting there doing nothing because there is not enough work to go around;
3. lack of drivers because the wages are poor, shifts are long, and customers are increasingly difficult to deal with.

I drove for 6 years in the “good old days” of Canberra cab driving, the mid-late 1990s. Back then fares were significantly lower (when I stopped in 2000, rate 2 was 1.12/km and flagfall 2.60 – now 1.89 (?) and 4.00), and I have a feeling more people used cabs because I still made good money. In fact, the money I was making in 2000 is about the same as what drivers make today, 8 years later, even though fares have increased by over 70%! Not only that, I didn’t have much trouble with customers back then, but every cabbie I meet today talks about the violence and rudeness of the customers. At the moment it seems like no-one is winning – not the passengers, drivers or owners.

As for the airport situation, if they ran 12/20-seater mini-buses to Civic, Belconnen and the Parl Triangle for set fees (like happens out of American airports), the situation would improve vastly.

Every cab doesn’t turn up eventually…

I’ve made a booking, and waited… I’ve called, they said it was on the way, and hours later the cab still hasn’t turned up.

And if you ask to speak to an agent, your waiting in a retarded long queue.

Devil_n_Disquiz2:13 pm 24 Feb 08

No,,Every cab will turn up. EVENTUALLY 🙂

If you read carefully you will note that I said “Guaranteed pick up on time”

There is a difference.

el ......TECortina 250 Deathtrap1:28 pm 24 Feb 08

Guaranteed to turn up.

Amazing.

You get to pay extra for this guarantee.

Devil_n_Disquiz1:25 pm 24 Feb 08

1) As a user of taxis, I would like to remind Canberra Cabs that their automated booking system is still in use, and is still as pathetic and frustrating as it ever was.

I just dialed the Canberra Cabs number to see for myself (as I drive one I don’t have the need to ring for one). It said something like this

“Welcome to Canberra Cabs, please note you can interrupt at anytime. To make an express booking say EXPRESS. If you would prefer to talk to an agent, say AGENT”

So..try saying agent.

2) They need a ‘pre-booking’ service – even if you have to pay an extra fee to actually guarantee a cab when you really need one.

They do. Its called Silver Service. http://www.silverservicecanberra.com.au
Guaranteed pick up on time.

OpenYourMind212:48 pm 24 Feb 08

Having worked in the industry, the only people that make any kind of money seemed to be those that invested in ownership of multiple cabs.

More cabs are not going to make much difference because nobody wants to drive a cab these days. This is especially so at the airport (with the traffic) and late at night (with the most obnoxious of customers).

That $44 fare might seems steep, but it might have taken the driver over an hour to get the fare. That’s $22 an hour gross, and that’s when he/she gets a good fare. Sometimes you can sit on a rank for an hour or more and make no money. It’s not much better for the owner who gets the other half. They have to pay radio fees, big insurance, maintenance, fuel etc. etc.

It’s a marginal industry.

You have to wonder at the Employers who have moved into the Business Park, surely you look at staff access and if needed flexible working hours before moving into premises out there or are there ‘incentives’ available for the management people making the decision to move there?

Thanks for the info on CabXpress Karl.

Sepi, that’s what I like about CabXpress – any jobs which are booked by 8pm the night before are all allocated to drivers that night, so your 4.50am or 6.30am bookings are already allocated, and the drivers already know where they are going!

This is why competition beteen cab companies is a good thing. Try them next time you need to book a flight.

The problem is the extra traffic caused by the office park, yes? So block both roundabouts that lead in to the airport on the ACT Govt side of the property line, plus the road out to Brand Depot, then set up a regularly-service ACTION bus stop and taxi rank out in front of the airport. Maybe a multi-storey car park outside the airport as well?

The horrific traffic jams around the airport at morning and afternoon peak times was created by Snow (who owns the airport) building a CBD out there when there was no road infrastructure to support it.

The gridlock is getting worse and worse on that road, especially as cars queue across the roundabouts and stop traffic flowing in any direction.

Before Snow built his CBD, that road used to flow, even at peak times. I can see why taxis won’t go there, it would take forever to get out there.

They need to at least introduce buses to Civic for the peak flight arrival times, so the people are at least on soemthing going somewhere, not queued along the footpath waiting for a taxi.

Snow could have built internal access roads on HIS airport property to syphon off traffic heading to the airport and the business park, but he chose not to. Wasn’t lucrative enough, perhaps. So the taxpayer is held to ransom to pay for the road duplication, which isn’t going to fix the problem.

A major issue with the booking system is pre-booked cabs – eg for the airport for an OS flight.

Even if you book a week in advance, they only release your details to teh cabs with 15 minutes to go to your pick-up time, and it is up to the cabs to choose to come get you or not.

They need a ‘pre-booking’ service – even if you have to pay an extra fee to actually guarantee a cab when you really need one.

Barney, I agree with you 100%. The BBP and brand depot have between them added enough traffic to the already bad roads to tip the balance to the chaotic situation we have now.
And for the automated booking system – vote by taking your business elsewhere, call Cabxpress 62606011 – while they have some of their own shortcomings, they at least have humans answering the phone – a novel concept in Canberra!

As a user of taxis, I would like to remind Canberra Cabs that their automated booking system is still in use, and is still as pathetic and frustrating as it ever was.

In regard to the roads leading in/out of the airport, perhaps both the owner(s) of the Brindabella Business Park (who are making shit-loads of money and causing a lot of this traffic) and the government may need to start upgrading the roads out there!!!!

It would be nice to have some federal money. Though that NEVER happens.

Err. Oh well. Hmm…

A recent item in the news (SMH, I think), reported on the huge involvement of the head of Sydney (?) Cabs in the running of the industry in Sydney, and his control/interest in CabCharge, which apparently is a ‘nice little earner’.

I am questioning the whole fare/driver wage/ owner return equation of the local industry. Drivers are required to provide ABN’s, presumably so owners can buckpass workers comp & PAYG to the drivers. This is apparently one of the major disincentives to becoming a taxi driver.

An indication of disparity of fares was recently experienced by a close friend. Airport to south Woden – $44.00, Boston Airport to Hotel – $10.00. You wouldn’t get out of the airport for that in Canberra, and I would expect the costs to be similar, ACT/US.

Someone is making a motza in this industry, and it dosn’t appear to be the front line drivers. It will be interesting to see if the Gov enquiry will identify the winners.

Not entirely related, but I caught the countrylink train back from Sydney last year, it arrived late (11pm-ish) on a Sunday night. There were a few cabs there, but it was one short- I was second last in line, but I let the people behind me take it, as they were tourists. Every person who got in a cab told the driver they needed to send one more for me, and the driver called it in each time. Naturally, no cab ever arrived. I had to call a mate and get them to give me a lift, not the sort of thing I wanted to do at nearly midnight…

Deans run a bus to civic and back every hour. I’ve caught it a number of times. Bit more expensive at about $8 but cheaper than a taxi.

Where is the airport bus?????

Devil_n_Disquiz2:46 pm 23 Feb 08

As a cab driver in Canberra, I have the following to say…

During morning peak and afternoon peak it can take 35 to 40 mins to get to the airport, from the city. This is up from the 10-12 mins it takes any other time of day.
Personally I will not drive empty for 35 mins only to pick up a $15 fare to Campbell Park Offices which will take me another 20 mins to complete. $7.50 for 55 mins work…I think not. I’ll stay in the suburbs and make 4 or 5 times that amount.

Mr Hargreaves should really take himself off to the Dr and get his ears looked at.
He states that 20 to 26% of cabs are not operating and that by adding an extra 50 licences will fix this problem. This AFTER being told that the reason 20 to 25% of cabs are not operating is because they don’t have drivers !!!!
Mr Hargreaves is a goose if he thinks adding 50 license is suddenly going to bring more drivers out of the woodwork. Instead of 56 taxis sitting around without drivers he will have 106 taxis sitting around not doing anything.

Mr Hargreaves obviously hasn’t got a clue and should resign and let someone who does have a brain continue his portfolio.

Mind you…wasn’t Hargreaves caught DUI a couple of years ago ? He probably wouldn’t know what a taxi looks like.

Can we re-nationalise Canberra Airport? There seems to be no way that the government could do a worse job of running the place than the company which is running it, which seems to have little interest in using the land to actually operate an efficient airport. Setting up a business park and outlet mall seems to have come at the expense of an airport which people can get to and drive past.

If the airport and airlines would agree to stagger take-offs and arrival times, then instead of having a massive log jam when all the planes take off and land within a few minutes of each other, there’d just be a steady flow of work for the cabbies.

But that seems so obvious that I assume there must be a reason it can’t be done, right?

This is not rocket science. You need a method to transport a large number of people at short notice. These things are called buses however most people who travel out of Canberra airport have never travelled on one and do not know what these things are or how to catch one. Defence, Centrelink and some other government departments operate them to link there sites. Peak periods will exist in Canberra due to parliment sittings etc. Pollies will always get their cars at the expence of the peasants.

el ......TECortina 250 Deathtrap12:14 pm 23 Feb 08

Where does the blame lie?

Global warming.

When the economy is the way it is, the lower-end jobs will be harder to fill and this is a consequence. Don’t panic. So long as the economy stalls, as it seems will inevitably happen in the next year or so, the problem will vanish 🙂

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