Brisbane Airport Taxi Departure

[jayr]

I tried a search on the forum so apolgies if this has come up before.

IMO Brisbane domestic airport is heading downhill rapidly. The installation of the boom gate on the departing taxi rank and $2 charge was a rip off but the recent 50% increase to $3 is just ridiculous.

The short departure road to the boom gate, which is also intersected by a pedestrian crossing, result in a significant slowing on each taxi departure and as a result a much longer time to get into a taxi and a longer queue.

It appears that Brisbane Airport is essentially charging customers for the pleasure of waiting longer to get home. They seem to have added an extra taxi rank official, but that it more to stop the taxis coming into the rank until the departing ones clear. I suspect this is why we are now paying $3 instead of $2.

Given airports are essentialy monopoly services we have no ability to use a different airport.

 

[medhead]

The taxi charge has been in place for quite a while. It's been close to 9 years since I drove cabs in brisbane and they had it then I think. From memory the idea was to pay for passenger facilties related to transport to and from the airport. So if you look out the back of the QP you'll see a significant feed rank for the taxis and that appears to have been greatly expanded and also now has shade covering. So a nice cool taxi to get into..

However, I suspect the money also went into the air train and also the vastly improved passenger drop off arrangements. This is just the wrong way to go really, they should make it as hard as possible to be dropped at the airport. Thereby, forcing the use of parking or public transport, like taxis.

The problem, of course, is that previously drop off and pick up passengers went to the same road section as taxi passengers. Now all these people have to cross the taxi "lane" to get to/from the pick up/drop off area. This is probably one reason why there is an extra person to control taxis.

The other is that in my taxi days, you had to make a choice on which rank to go to Qantas or Ansett. This resulted in poor service to one or other rank. i.e. if the qantas rank was packed then no cabs would go to the ansett rank. This was all rather complex and it was made worse by the taxi charge. Imagine getting onto the qantas rank just as the last passenger off the last plane had got their taxi. The driver is stuck paying the fee with no passenger to recover it from and face the same problem if they go onto the ansett rank.

They stuffed it all up and of course they need someone to try to control things.

 

[Groundfeeder]

A few weeks back storms closed BNE airport and left us sitting on a taxiway for 40 minutes, as ground staff were sheltering from lightning - fair enough. Why they couldn't get one to operate the airbridge during this time is questionable.

Eventually we get to the terminal with all other delayed flights and fought through the immense scrums around the baggage carousel to emerge onto a taxi queue that extended beyond the QP end of the terminal. Airtrain had given up early as usual (7.30/8pm?) and it took over 60 minutes to get to the taxi allocation. It's pretty obvious the lack of city/airport bus services is to prop up the Airtrain, but when it's closed down for the nite chaos can prevail thru that boom gate.:evil:

 

[ab156]

Have to agree with the OP. As a regular BNE-MEL traveler the difference is night and day. By the time one clears the rank, boom gate and the slog down airport drive the fare is well into double digits.

In my case I normally just get the airtrain into the city and cab from there - in peak hour this is much faster.

 

[anat0l]

The Airtrain ceases services far too early - I'll give that one. The roadworks etc. around the airport area don't help a single iota, even after the <insert blasting critical word here> media published the rat run via Sugar Mill Road.

Having said that, I think taxis are fairly straightforward in BNE Dom. PER Dom is worse as far as getting a taxi is concerned, especially late at night when all the last flights roll in. PER Dom has the 37 bus as an alternative, however. (No train to either PER terminal.)

At least the taxi rank at BNE Dom doesn't suffer from the same zoo effect as the mildly inefficient set down/drop off zone. They should get rid of the boom gate and do something similar to an e-toll like tag-off system. I've seen that boom gate malfunction at times (i.e. driver throws in the coins and the boom gate does diddly squat, and no he did not throw the coins in whilst the gate was up).

 

[jayr]

I think I'd prefer to pay the $3 charge for ARRIVING at the airport than departing it.

That way I still pay the same charge, I am not slowed down on paying on arrival particulary (and presumably have planned to arrive early enough to catch a plane anyway) since I still have to pay the taxi transaction anyway.

By doing this and removing "pay on departure" and the boon gate, and the slow departure of taxis queueing to depart then there shouldbe no net delay to me at all.

Even in peak arrival times the rate at which taxis enter BNE DOM, even if a boon gate is put in place, must be of lower frequency than the high frequency departure rate of a fully laden taxi rank.

Perhaps I;ll prospone to BAC, though they might just impose an arrival charge on top of the departure charge...

 

[medhead]

Even in peak arrival times the rate at which taxis enter BNE DOM, even if a boon gate is put in place, must be of lower frequency than the high frequency departure rate of a fully laden taxi rank.

I'm not sure how you make this conclusion. There is a buffer of at least 120 cars in the BNE DOM feeder rank. I'm not sure how the operation of the actual ranks gives any indication of what happens on the feeder rank


O/T: rat run is a term that I totally reject. Roads are built to be driven on!

 

[JohnK]

The Airtrain ceases services far too early - I'll give that one.

It would be fantastic if they extended the operating hours of the airtrain until 9:00pm, or even 10:00pm, from the current last departure of 7:59pm. I refuse to use a taxi, way too expensive, preferring to use Coachtrans when I arrive later than the last departure of the airtrain or I have too many bags to carry.

 

[rwatts]

It would be fantastic if they extended the operating hours of the airtrain until 9:00pm, or even 10:00pm, from the current last departure of 7:59pm. I refuse to use a taxi, way too expensive, preferring to use Coachtrans when I arrive later than the last departure of the airtrain or I have too many bags to carry.

I've never used a taxi from BNE airport - even when work has been paying. Several times I've used Coachtrans from the airport - because it was after the train stopped - but used the train for the return.

I just booked Coachtrans for both directions next week because I cant be bothered carrying my stuff from Central to the Hilton.

I've had a few interesting tours of the city and inner suburbs on the way to my lodgings.

Richard.

 

[jayr]

The cost of my taxi home from the airport is gettign close to $70 these days; of which about $7 is just for the benefit of Cabcharge (i.e. 10% service fee for using a credit card).

I don't know if everyone realises that they pay 10% more for using a credit card which has to be the highest such charge in Austrlaia; if toher companies do charge such a fee it is typically only around 2%.

I think I may start hiring cars to get home, then drop off back in the CBD the following day. The only problem with that is I might have to drink less in the Qantas CLub and not go for a second wine on the flight.

 

[rwatts]

I don't know if everyone realises that they pay 10% more for using a credit card which has to be the highest such charge in Austrlaia; if toher companies do charge such a fee it is typically only around 2%.

Actually its 11% for using your credit card because GST is payable on the service fee - so your $70 meter charge now becomes $70 + $7 + .70 = $77.70

Richard.

 

[serfty]

Cabcharge is 10%
Credit Cards are 11%

 

[Happy Dude]

...they should make it as hard as possible to be dropped at the airport. Thereby, forcing the use of parking or public transport, like taxis.

Is that the clattering hooves of a hobby horse I hear? I distinctly do not like having my options pre-determined or removed. However, if they made short-term parking costs reasonable, I, and the poor saps on the side of the freeway, might play the game.

As far as the taxi industry's attitude to fees goes, encouraging people to use CC/EFTPOS might actually improve safety conditions for drivers. Ergo, a large CC/EFTPOS fees encourages cash, which is generally sought after by those inclined to rob.

It's all thanks to RBA and their ill-thought out policy designed to create competition.

 

[oz_mark]

It's all thanks to RBA and their ill-thought out policy designed to create competition.

The Cabcharge service fee was charged even before the RBA changes, and was the reason for a long while that Visa cards were not accepted by Taxis.

 

[JohnK]

I don't know if everyone realises that they pay 10% more for using a credit card which has to be the highest such charge in Austrlaia; if toher companies do charge such a fee it is typically only around 2%.

Yes 10%-11% is a joke. I stopped using credit cards to pay for taxi fares a few years ago.

 

[Sequel]

One option to help (slightly) with the cab situation at BNE is to move the boom gate to the ENTRY of the cab holding area. I have already suggested this to BAC via their feed back forms after it taking 5 mins from when I got in the cab to when we got to the boom gate (all of 200m), not to mention the time waiting for a cab as no new ones could come in until the ones waiting for the boom gates had moved on.

As a regular users of cabs in and out of BNE (recently avg 2/week) it is the only part of the trip I dread. BAC had a huge opportunity to improve things when they started the recent upgrades, but the result is no better than before.

 

[rwatts]

What's wrong with doing like most others I've noticed (eg CBR) and have the boom at the exit of the holding area and before the pickup area. Of course the location (well last time I went through BNE) meant that Coachtrans shuttles and others that used that roadway also had to pay.

Richard.

 

[medhead]

What's wrong with doing like most others I've noticed (eg CBR) and have the boom at the exit of the holding area and before the pickup area. Of course the location (well last time I went through BNE) meant that Coachtrans shuttles and others that used that roadway also had to pay.

Richard.

You and Sequel have an interesting suggestion. What's wrong is that no cabs will go to the airport after about 7:30 to 8 pm at night. Because no driver is going to risk being out of pocket by missing a fare off the rank. Remember that last plane lands and if you don't pick up that's it. Long drive back to the nearest suburb and then a long wait on a rank for a job, and you paid $3 for the pleasure.

No doubt things are a bit different now. But in the mid 1990s I was happy to earn $8-$10 an hour on a typical week night. (more on weekend nights) Spend an hour sitting at the airport, pay $3 don't get a job and then spend another 1 hour to get a job in the suburbs and I'm very unhappy.

On the CC fees, they've were around when I was driving in 1993. I could always accept CC using the swipe machine. But then that was a "non-cabcharge" taxi company. Basically, cabcharge didn't allow us to take their dockets, but we could anyway, because plenty of service stations could accept them as payment for fuel. I guess this is part of the reason for cabcharge getting rid of paper dockets. There are many issues with cabcharge but 11% for CC is relatively minor. What about charging people 10% to use cabcharge vouchers on the cabcharge system. :!::shock: Basically everyone is parying cabcharge from the customer, to drivers and owners, to the cab companies. Still could be a good investment.

 

[Groundfeeder]

I think I may start hiring cars to get home, then drop off back in the CBD the following day.

I can get an Avis Commodore for $39 day (abt $50 nett with fees etc). It usually costs >$65 home by cab. With a dribble of fuel it may cost similar overall, but I'd be on my way far,far sooner - AND know the way home without constant queries!!:evil:

 

[jayr]

Yes, I am growing tired of having cabbies who not only do not know my (well-known) suburb but even query where "western suburbs" are.

Worse is driving off down airport drive with them attempting to type street names into the Tom Tom.

I can get an Avis Commodore for $39 day (abt $50 nett with fees etc). It usually costs >$65 home by cab. With a dribble of fuel it may cost similar overall, but I'd be on my way far,far sooner - AND know the way home without constant queries!!:evil: