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.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Subtle differences
    February 27, 2012
    Too often, when I sit down to write one of these forewords, I worry that things are becoming a little circular.
  • Pat Jones to retire from IBTTA after 22 years
    July 3, 2024
    Executive director and CEO of tolling organisation will leave at the end of 2024
  • On-demand is Denver’s command
    March 6, 2017
    While demand responsive transit overcomes many problems, it has been too expensive to provide for the general public but Denver believes it may have found a solution. Cost-efficiently meeting fluctuating passenger levels within available resources can prove a serious challenge for general publicoriented demand responsive transit. There is growing US interest in this mode - as distinct from the already established use of demand responsive transit for specialised needs, such as paratransit for the disabled –
  • Transurban announces preferred contractor for NorthConnex
    March 18, 2014
    Melbourne-based toll-road operator Transurban Group has announced that the consortium Lend Lease Bouygues is set to design and build the Sydney, Australia, NorthConnex tunnel link between the M1 and M2 motorways in the city’s northwest. The nine kilometre, 80 km/h tolled link involves two motorway tunnels, built with a three lane capacity for future growth but initially marked for two lanes each way. It provides the missing link in the National Highway Network and offers a safe and more efficient way of