Survey Says…
Give a bureaucrat a problem and he’ll set up a survey.
Give a politician a problem and he’ll set up a committee.
When I suggested that there were too many cabs and that the solution to late night problems in Northbridge was late night trains I was told that the surveys said that there would not be enough people catching trains to warrant such a solution. Now one must ask who they surveyed. Was it a quick 400 phone poll at 3.00 pm on a Tuesday afternoon when most of the participants were retirees who would never venture near Northbridge except their yearly quest to the Tax office? Or did they get out on the streets at 3.00am on a Sunday morning and ask the people waiting if they would rather a $3.50 train ride or a $35.00 taxi fare? If I were an apprentice earning $300.00 a week I’d take the train. That would then free up the available Taxis for the FIFOs and Tradies earning $1800.00 a week. Simple really but that is not what the survey says.
Now the government claims it would cost $600 000 to run an extra train at 3.00 am on a Saturday and Sunday morning in each direction per year (about the same amount as fare evaders cost the Taxi industry per year… hmmm). That is on the assumption that no one buys a ticket. Now if you have a look at the trains running late on a Monday or Tuesday night they are practically empty and I would assume cost almost as much to run. If they can afford to run these empty trains why can’t they afford to run full ones when demand is high? Oh right, survey says…
Now when I wrote a lengthy diatribe to the last Minister explaining the pain of the Taxi industry and how there were too many cabs and how ridiculous a 0.7% fare increase was when the industry had increased its supply by over 80% he announced that he would resurrect the Taxi Industry Board.
Now that seemed like a good idea. I asked who would be on it, worried that it would consist of people like lobbyist Bradley Woods of the AHA. No he wouldn’t be included but neither would any Taxi Drivers. No, it would be respectable academics and former judiciary, perhaps a retired CEO or two. Taxi Drivers would have too many biases to participate. So the people most involved and most knowledgeable about this industry would have no say in how it is conducted. It’s okay I was told, any submission I made would be forwarded to them.
Imagine a scenario where all the state’s Ministers of Transport gather together to discuss the Taxi industry and how to improve it. Imagine that they resolved to ensure that drivers had a good command of English and a good knowledge the geography of the city they operated in.
Oh! That’s right the Ministers of Transport did hold such a meeting back in November of 2009 and declared the new standard would come into effect as of July 1st, 2010 (why would they want to wait that long is anybody’s guess). Yeah, well fat chance of that actually happening.
Imagine –
· A taxi driver who knew where he/she was going. …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who had a good command of English (isn’t that not pc). …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who went to the front door and knocked (isn’t that dangerous?) …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who helps put luggage in the boot. …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who doesn’t mind the passenger choosing the radio station. …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who doesn’t choose passengers based on their destination. …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who wears a uniform and keeps the car clean. …I’d like to see that.
· A taxi driver who does all of the above and can live on less than minimum wage. …Well that ain’t never going to happen (well not forever anyway cause any driver like that will just have to go and get a real job at a fast food restaurant).
All because the Survey Says…
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