Drivers slam taxi 'knowledge' quiz

Drivers slam taxi 'knowledge' quiz : "'The problems in the taxi industry are structural and a systemic nature, and the Government is papering over these huge problems with these cosmetic reforms.'"

This article is about taxis in Melbourne but I have heard complaints about taxis in Sydney and we have certainly got complaints about taxis here. it is an industry which appears to be in crisis. From the drivers point of view there are the ongoing crank and prank calls which cost them time and money, then there are the abusive and unreasonable passengers which seem to be on the increase and then there are the outright dangerous passengers who have cost the drivers dearly. From our point of view we are increasingly faced with taxis which don't turn up. Some people have to ring two or 3 times. For old and infirm people this is distressing but it also means a once reliable form of service is no longer there. This has increased. Then there are the drivers who don't know ehre they are going, so either you have to keep telling them or you end up with a big fare because they took the scenic route. The good taxi drivers in Australia are brilliant and continue to be that way. We need to resolve the safety issues on both sides, we need to ensure drivers know the area they are working and we need to ensure the taxis will be there when booked or will arrive in a reasonable amount of time. The problems are structural and systemic. We need a group of drivers , consumers and those familiar with transport around the city to get together to come up with some reasonable ways to resolve this. Taxi drivers will lose out if we cannot rely on them and we always could and they will become frustrated because they are not being heard in any open way. At the moment we have all these thoughts but we need to nail it down to facts and then address the difficulties which are arising. One taxi driver I met recently was beside himself because no one had spoken to him about the road changes around Adelaide. His suggestions were fair, reasonable and valid and ought to have been heard at the planning meetings. Did anyone think about that? We do have a resource about city traffic which is going to waste here.