Skip to main content

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

  • March 12, 2020
    Montreal bans e-scooters following rider misuse
    The Canadian city of Montreal has outlawed shared electric scooters from its streets after hundreds of riders disregarded rules on parking and helmet use. 
  • January 23, 2012
    Changing driving conditions need ongoing driver training
    Trevor Ellis, chairman of the ITS UK Enforcement Interest Group, considers the role of ongoing driver training in increasing compliance. It is over 30 years since I passed my driving test. The world was quite a different place then, in that there were only half the vehicles there are now on the UK's roads, mobile phones did not really exist and (in the UK at least) the vast majority of us drove cars which by today's standards exhibited dreadful dynamic stability and were woefully underpowered.
  • September 18, 2012
    Thoughts from Dan’s friends at Econolite
    “Dan was an engineer who could dream, design and then sell. He loved to sell, and it came from a love to share. I'm sure that's what he's doing right now – selling and sharing. We loved his free spirit…you never knew what he was going to do or say next…he kept you on the edge of your seat. Dan had several careers throughout his life and he took the best from each one, using that to make his next career step even better. But at the end of the day, he was an engineer who loved to sell and share.” – Econo
  • February 3, 2012
    Nissan's NV200 selected as exclusive taxi for New York
    Nissan Motor has been chosen as the winner for its NV200 cab design in the "Taxi of Tomorrow" contest in the US, based on a survey on 23,000 people.