Melbourne taxi drivers go slow

Taxi drivers in Melbourne, Australia, have staged a ‘go slow’ during morning rush hour on one of the city’s busiest roads, Tullamarine freeway, in protest at changes to state government industry reforms that would regulate ride-sharing app Uber and scrap taxi licences.
February 28, 2017 Read time: 2 mins

Taxi drivers in Melbourne, Australia, have staged a ‘go slow’ during morning rush hour on one of the city’s busiest roads, Tullamarine freeway, in protest at changes to state government industry reforms that would regulate ride-sharing app 8336 Uber and scrap taxi licences.

According to the Victorian Government website, taxi, hire car and rideshare services will operate under an aligned set of rules for the first time, creating what it calls a truly level playing field for all industry participants that will drive competition and innovation.

From 2018 all network service providers and other commercial passenger vehicles businesses will be charged a levy equivalent to AU$2 on all commercial passenger vehicle trips, replacing the current annual licence fees of currently up to AU$23,000.

Speaking to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, taxi driver Vasilos Spanos said the current offer would financially ruin his family. "It cost me altogether for the three licences more than AU$800,000" he said.

Ari Angelopoulos told Australian Associated Press he owns two taxi licences and said he has lost more than 30 per cent of his daily income. "I work hard, I have two children, and I am the only worker in my family. I didn't come to Australia to be a slave," he said.

Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan says she respects the drivers’ right to protest but called their behaviour irresponsible. “It’s actually not bringing people to their cause - it’s driving them away,” she told radio station 3AW.

The Andrews Government has offered taxi licence holders AU$100,000 for their first licence and AU$50,000 for subsequent licences.

Related Content

  • August 21, 2024
    Sampo Hietanen: “Most likely you're going to be the ‘magnificent corpse’ out of all this”
    From the pitfalls of being first in the market, to putting your effort into creating an ecosystem, and the difficulties in gaining critical mass, Sampo Hietanen tells Adam Hill how much he’s learned from the rise and demise of MaaS Global
    Read More
  • January 12, 2016
    Driver with 51 penalty points still allowed to drive
    Three drivers with more than 40 points on their driving licences are still allowed on the road, according to a Freedom of Information request to the DVLA by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM). The enquiry also found that 13 people in Britain currently have 28 or more points on their driving licence, the worst of those amassing 51 points. In addition, the numbers of drivers with 12 or more points has gone up by nine per cent in just seven months between March and October 2015 – from 6,884 to 7,517.
    Read More
  • July 13, 2015
    Uber takes on European critics
    Uber's director of public policy for Europe, Simon Hampton, has suggested that he sees a chance at winning over governments pursuing legal action against the company. “If you're in a city Uber hasn't come to yet, then creating a group of people to say they want Uber and to put pressure on local politicians - that's hard," Hampton said at a panel discussion in the European Parliament, reports euractiv.com. Uber has faced legal inquiries in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Italy and Portugal ov
    Read More
  • March 28, 2017
    Commuting habits come under scrutiny
    Cities have a moral responsibility to encourage the smart use of transportation and Andrew Bardin Williams hears a few suggestions. Given the choice of getting a root canal, doing household chores, filing taxes, eating anchovies or commuting to work, nearly two-thirds of Americans said that they wouldn’t mind commuting into work—at least according to a poll conducted by Xerox (now Conduent) over its social media channels at the end of 2016.
    Read More

Highlighted Content