MEL Taxi Blockade [ short fare return queue jump ending ]

[Hvr]

The system - which aimed to tackle drivers' reluctance to transport passengers a short distance - will cease on Wednesday because of evidence it is being rorted by some drivers.


Drivers who take passengers to a nearby destination have been permitted to bypass the long queues in the airport's taxi holding yard, but a Melbourne Airport survey found that while just 2 per cent of taxi trips were to suburbs within the short-fare zone, 12 per cent of drivers were heading straight to the taxi ranks.


''What we found was there were a lot of drivers who were taking advantage of that system if they hadn't actually accepted a short fare,'' airport spokeswoman Anna Gillett said.


''They were jumping the queue and those drivers who were doing the right thing weren't being treated fairly.''

Read more: Rort claims put end to airport taxi line
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This will make it even harder to get a short fare without argument. Although with the rorting I'm not sure how to resolve it. Yet another reason to have a proper public transport system to and from the airport. The route buses need to drop off a lot closer to the main terminals and be a lot more frequent.

Of course our grandchildren will be talking about the need for a railway line.

 

[Simo]

The taxi industry needs to take the good with the bad in regards to jobs/fares.

Yep I hate it in my industry when some one does not want to spend a $100 dollars and only wants to spend $30. That is the way the cookie crumbles

 

[Aus ATC]

I (and my colleagues) only ever catch a taxi around the airport to the tower complex - around $18.00. I can see some very upset taxi drivers every time now. Before the short trip system was in place, I used to catch a cab from the departures level. I might have to revert to that and run the gauntlet of the taxi controllers up there!

 

[outbackowner]

We live in Essendon and have been abused in every language by taxi drivers but go upstairs and grab a driver that has just dropped a fare off and get him to drive us, and they are generally happy to have a fare off the airport.

 

[whatmeworry]

When I go the back way to the airport, it always makes me wonder how all those taxi's in the taxi holding yard actually make money? Would it not make sense for them to get more trips rather then waiting for the white whale fare.

 

[whatmeworry]

The airport has criticised the drivers in the holding yard for throwing rubbish on the ground, which it says is not just an eyesore but a potential threat to airport operations.
''Rubbish in the holding yard is a serious problem,'' the airport's ground transport manager, Tanya Cleary, wrote in minutes from a meeting with taxi industry stakeholders last year.
''The amount of rubbish found on the airfield has increased and this has been directly attributed as coming from the Melrose holding yard. There is potential for the rubbish to enter an aircraft engine.''

From the same article. I didn't realise the taxi drivers were being such pigs in that yard and potentially their rubbish could cause a plane to come down.

 

[Sprucegoose]

From the same article. I didn't realise the taxi drivers were being such pigs in that yard and potentially their rubbish could cause a plane to come down.

Well that could be cultural......

 

[nickykim]

The drivers pull grumpy faces even with the short ride system. My daughter had left the car at her friends place in Meadow Heights for me to pick up in mid March when I returned from the US. My driver hopped out and went and spoke to the controller to try to get out of taking me. Fortunately the controller said no and the driver was at least polite enough not to say anything to me. Just grumpy face!

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Definitely going to be a case of using the departures level I think then.

I was abused recently for getting a taxi from the overseas passenger terminal at circular quay to somewhere else in the CBD, driver told me he had driven all the way from Bankstown empty... how is that my problem?

 

[coles525]

This will make it even harder to get a short fare without argument. Although with the rorting I'm not sure how to resolve it. Yet another reason to have a proper public transport system to and from the airport. The route buses need to drop off a lot closer to the main terminals and be a lot more frequent.

Of course our grandchildren will be talking about the need for a railway line.

For anyone who still hasn't heard of it:

BUS 901: Mel Airport Bus.

Catch it to Broady station, then get the train(s) to your local station.


Or do it the other way, from your local station change at flinders street to the craigiburn line. Get off at broady then catch the 901 bus ("from frankston / to airport") a short distance to the airport.

It drops you off near tiger, them walk to checkin...

It might take longer then a taxi trip, but saves you Friggin bucket loads in both directions.

Cost infact only a 2 hr MYKI mouse fare for most locations by train and bus.

I've been doing it for a few years now when going away. Intact it occurring sometime this week.

 

[AIRwin]

For anyone who still hasn't heard of it:

BUS 901: Mel Airport Bus.

Catch it to Broady station, then get the train(s) to your local station.

I just did it this morning - international flight landed at 7.50 am, one of the last to disembark the aircraft (I was seated in the last row), cleared immigration and customs (I had food to declare although HLO), walked to bus stop, caught the 8.28 am bus as it was just about to leave for Broadmeadows station, made the connection (how ironic) to the 8.52 am City Loop train, and finally arrived at my office at 9.30 am.

 

[serfty]

For anyone who still hasn't heard of it:

BUS 901: Mel Airport Bus.

Catch it to Broady station, then get the train(s) to your local station. ...

See here: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....ne-airport-stalling-preventing-bus-42608.html

FWIW, the bus stop used to be between the (old) Hilton and T2.

 

[BAM1748]

It's about time Melbourne caught up and spent the money on a rail connection.

it would be one of the cheapest airports in Australia to connect to the rail system.

m

 

[SeatBackForward]

I haven't read the article but does it explain how they were rorting the system?

At SYD, its a very simple (but open to abuse) process. Once the driver is aware its a short fare, they toot their horn, or wave to the controller, who is meant to radio the Rego Plates to the taxi waiting area. That driver then has something like 20mins to make it back to the Airport where they must match the Rego plates and let them avoid the queue. Its open to abuse, because a driver can toot their horn for any passenger, not just the short fares, but obvsiouly the 20mins factor would weed out those who haven't genuinely got short fares.
Here are some solutions:

A lot of other countries have pre-paid taxi stands at airports, you pay at a counter a fixed fare, get given a token, and then allocated to a driver, this process would also sort out the short fares etc..Why can't we do that, is our price of labour really that high? or alternativeluy, legitimise a short fare line at the arrivals area, so drivers dropping off can get the short fare, but I can see how this would also be open to abuse too..

 

[Simo]

Will be interesting to see what this achieves today.

Apart from many missed flights/delayed flights
Cabbies threaten to block Vic airport | The Courier-Mail

 

[nickykim]

I know the bus route is there but after a holiday flight I am not interested in lugging two cases across the terminal onto a bus, on to a train onto another train then another bus then a 20 minute walk from the bus stop home - taking 3 hours at least. I can see that for business travel with carry on only going into he CBD it would make sense.

 

[toowongman]

It's about time Melbourne caught up and spent the money on a rail connection.

it would be one of the cheapest airports in Australia to connect to the rail system.

m

Indeed. Here's my proposed "airlink" route:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/8663580/airportlink.png

... branches off the Cragieburn line. Add a couple of passing loops along the line and run the trains express from city loop.

 

[smit0847]

Taxi drivers stage mass blockade at Melbourne Airport

Anyone there?

 

[serfty]

Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun

I expected a line up of Taxi - nup -just an irate mob ...

 

[cmon0005]

Taxi's in Sydney and Melbourne are an absolute joke, actually an embarrassment for such a modern developed society like ours.

The amount of times I've got into a dirty cab, that feels like it is about to fall about and with dodgy brakes grinding metal on metal, upwards 500k km's on the clock, then there is the fare which in itself is a ripoff, plus when they 'calculate' the extras on top of their head for tolls, always varies from cab to cab using same route.

So normally I drive to the Airport and park, or occasionally use Skybus, which is a little expensive but very good, quick, and is purpose built for airport transport, unlike 901 which I have caught twice but never again, grumpy drivers, no racks for bags, stops all stops along the way, both times it was around 15-20 mins late, finally had to walk from the distance of where the bus "dumps you off" in the pouring rain with luggage to walk a couple of hundred metres.

End result loss of valuable lounge time!

Also small tip if you use the Melb Airport website parking calculator they often have vouchers you can print, such as capped rates for weekends, or $20 fuel cards.etc.