Lies, Lies and Damn Statistics.
Here are some that show why we are suffering.
Another report is out that shows some interesting statistics and perhaps why Taxi Drivers have a right to be unhappy.
First it says how we have completed more jobs than ever for equivalent periods.
From –
Taxi_MinistersReport_Quarter1_2011
Conventional Taxi Services
· The number of completed conventional jobs was the highest recorded for this
time of the year.
· The number of completed jobs increased in both the peak and off-peak
periods.
· The proportion of jobs in the outer suburbs has continued to increase.
This may be but it doesn’t take into account the number of extra taxis on the road (over 500 standard lease plates).
Here is a graph taken from the report that show how fares per taxi have dropped since 2004. (Click to enlarge) -
This shows fares (presumably supplied through dispatch service) have dropped from 11 per day (I am assuming it means per day) for March, 2004 to 9 per day for March 2011. In March 2008 it was even less at less than 8 per day per car (that’s over a 24 hour period). No wonder I felt my earnings drop so much and had my bank manager hammering at my door (good thing I don’t have a family to provide for like so many others).
This doesn’t take into account street and rank hails which now make up a greater part of my income. Could you imagine living on 4-5 fares per shift? Of course street and rank hails have also reduced substantially but there is no way of determining those statistics. Perhaps the minister could have a look at all the full ranks (legal and co-opted).
Now of course one has to ask if cars are only taking 9 jobs per day what is happening that all these jobs not covered are occurring.
From the same report -
5 Jobs Not Covered (JNC)
Of the possible service failures, a taxi that fails to pick up a passenger creates one of
the strongest negative customer reactions and is regarded as a major service failure.
Note: In calculating the jobs not covered, high demand public holidays and special
events day data is excluded. Some jobs have been found to have been covered but not
recorded as such in the dispatch system; some allowance for this is made in comparing
the figures to the standards.
Conventional Taxi Services (refer Table 4 and Graph 2 & Graph 3)
· Compared with the same quarter last year the JNC performance was worse in
the both the off-peak and peak periods.
· Performance was worse than the high standard in all categories.
· JNC proportions are still much higher in the peak than in the off-peak period.
· JNC proportions are significantly higher in Outer suburbs than in Inner and
Middle suburbs.
And a definition of what jobs not cover actually means (in report) -
Jobs Not Covered
A job is defined as not covered if the customer genuinely wanted a taxi but was never picked up. This includes instances where a customer has after 15 minutes has either cancelled the job or has left the pre-arranged pickup address. Of all possible service failures, a taxi that fails to pick up a passenger creates a strong negative customer reaction and is regarded as a major service failure. Consumers rightfully expect that if they call a taxi it should attend.
Radial Distance (km) Suburb Classification
0-6km Inner suburb
7-15km Middle suburb
16km+ Outer suburb
A detailed definition is used to determine from the dispatch data whether a job is not
covered. This definition says that if the job was never picked up, and some time more than 15 minutes after the customer required the taxi, either the customer cancelled the request or the dispatch service stopped trying to find a taxi, then the jobs is classified as not covered.
There are several different ways the dispatch service can stop trying to find a taxi, including when a taxi actually turns up and cannot locate the customer. This essentially says that if the customer gave up waiting for a taxi more than 15 minutes after the requested time then the job is not covered.
Some exceptions are made to this definition, the most important being that, jobs at places where it is quite possible that a passing taxi picked up the passenger, are never classified as not covered.
Now that is interesting. If a taxi turns up and cannot find a passenger it is considered as a job not covered. Whoa… If they mean only after 15 minutes okay but what about those jobs at 3.00 am that a driver runs for because no one sits in outer suburbs at that time because they may not get a job all night. I have run for jobs late at night and got there in 10 - 12 minutes but how long was the job in the system before it went to a wide call.
And who determines if a location could be deemed as one where a passing taxi could have picked up.
I frequently get no jobs at out of the way restaurants where Taxis now sit and wait. I often call a ‘no job’ when I have arrived at the address within 5 minutes (and I always knock unless it is a high rise with no intercom). Sometimes there is a party and they cannot hear the door knocking or do not know who rang. Sometimes people think that cabs are going to take so long that they think it better to walk to the nearest main road and hail (I experienced this in Claremont a week ago when the passenger hailed me as I drove up the street).
I also have had to ‘no job’ early morning FIFO workers after knocking and getting dispatch to phone (do they expect us to break in and shake them awake?).
Then of course you have dodgy addresses where the caller just has no idea where they are and guesses the street number (I have had passengers walk down the street to where I’m about to knock).
This does not take into account the many jobs where passengers call both dispatch services and don’t cancel the second car when the first arrives.
There must be a common thread for Jobs Not Covered. Yet the DoT won't make any comment on it. If they can work out the thread then they maybe able to find a solution. 300 more cars and 1000 more drivers is not that solution.
