Boom times for taxi operators

Swan Taxi Co-operative is Perth’s largest taxi dispatch service provider with about 84 per cent of the market share.

The company operates 1,100 taxis on its network and also provides a dispatch service for Mandurah Taxis.

Swan Taxis managing director Kevin Foley said the industry had experienced considerable growth since the resources boom began.

“It has never been so viable,” he told WA Business News. “It hasn’t been as busy as this since 1973. They’re taking big money.”

Mr Foley said that, while Melbourne Cup day was the busiest in the year, the period leading up to Christmas is one of peak demand.

“Two weeks before Christmas is the problem. Now it’s six weeks before Christmas because of the mining boom,” he said.

Mr Foley is a committed advocate of a regulated industry with private ownership of taxi plates.

He said the leasing system introduced by the government in 2004, which allows drivers to lease plates directly from the DPI without ever achieving ownership, will undermine the system, to the detriment of drivers.  

“There was no leasing back then. Most drivers were paying a percentage of their earnings,” Mr Foley said.

“It’s not fair on the drivers. If you don’t have investment within the industry, it doesn’t function over time.”

Privately-owned Black & White Taxis general manager Kevin Wigg agreed, saying that while there was a place for both owned and leased plates within the industry, the drivers of leased plates missed out on an investment opportunity.

“At the end of the lease period, they’ve got no value to sell and therefore have really only had a job rather than building a business,” he said.

And Mr Wigg said public criticism of taxis’ frequent failure to arrive for pick-up on time was misplaced.

He said the public needed to understand that taxis were not able to be booked, only requested.

“The taxi service is run on a nearest available concept, meaning that the first available taxi will be allocated to a job,” Mr Wigg said.

“This is not a guaranteed service, as the cost to make the guaranteed service would be prohibitive under the taxi model.

“If a customer wants a guaranteed service, then there is the small charter vehicle service available, where they guarantee bookings at a premium price.”

Both Messrs Foley and Wigg believe that a shortage of drivers is central to the issue of taxi availability.

“It is to a lesser degree than Swan’s, but it is difficult to find drivers,” Mr Wigg said.

Taxi dispatch services charge plate owners a set rank fee per week for their services. About 65 per cent of jobs in the metro area are dispatched through a dispatch provider.