Page 2398 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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Government provided incentive payments for drivers to work during the Christmas/New Year period in 2007/08 and 2008/09.
• There were two components to the initiative payment scheme. The first was to provide a payment of $150 for all WAT operators whose vehicles were on the road, or available for hire for a minimum of 15 hours on the specified days. The second component was an increase in the lift fee payment from $11.90 to $25.00 for every hiring undertaken on the specified days, which also included the lift fee component of a 75% TSS voucher.
• Feedback from WAT users, and the taxi industry, indicated that the scheme worked well and there were no reports of any WAT bookings not being carried out during this period. The scheme has, therefore, been extended and will now also apply on, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Anzac Day each year. The extended scheme commenced on Mothers’ Day, Sunday 10 May 2009.
• The Government has also agreed to increase the lift fee from $11.90 to $25.00 for WAT drivers who undertake hirings between the hours of 9pm and 6am each day, when it has been typically difficult to attract drivers to work.
• The Government has also implemented other measures designed to improve the viability of WAT services, which includes a substantial concession on the annual licence fee for wheelchair taxis (the operator of a dual capacity wheelchair taxi pays $1,000pa and the fee for a single wheelchair capacity taxi is $3,000 compared with $20,000 pa for a standard taxi licence). Previously all wheelchair accessible taxis were required to accommodate two wheelchairs.
• The introduction of driver incentive payments and financial support to taxi operators is designed to provide better opportunities for operators and taxi networks to encourage drivers to actively participate in WAT work.
• It is not acceptable that members of our community are, only because they use a wheelchair, regularly, left stranded, run late for appointments and miss out on the normal social and other daily interactions that most of us take for granted.
• The initiatives implemented by the ACT Government to support improved WAT services compare very favourably with the level of incentives offered by other jurisdictions. The ACT has implemented and/or offered more incentive options for WATS than any other jurisdiction to ensure that WAT services remain viable and of a satisfactory standard.
• I have written to both taxi networks and met with industry representatives to express my hope that the industry can work cohesively and, that with ongoing support by the Government, can significantly improve services provided for WAT users.
• As the Minister for Transport, I will continue to place a strong emphasis on improving taxi services generally, but particularly for those members of the community who are substantially reliant on taxis.
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