Territorians will soon benefit from quicker taxi pick-up times and more available cabs.
Department of Transport Chief Executive Andrew Kirkman said applications open today for the 2016 Darwin Taxi Ballot, with 13 taxi licences available for allocation.
“The ballot is open to all operators who are accredited under the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act, who don’t have a current taxi licence, have been actively driving in the Northern Territory taxi industry for at least five years, have a satisfactory compliance history and are Territory residents,” Mr Kirkman said.
“This is the first time the ballot is available only to Northern Territory taxi drivers who have been working in the industry for a long period of time. This provides the opportunity for experienced Territory cabbies to own and operate their own business.”
There will be one ballot to allocate the 13 new taxi licences to be released in two stages:
Stage 1: Three standard licences and four Multiple Purpose Taxi (MPT) licences will be authorised to operate immediately after the allocation of taxi licences to the successful applicants. MPTs are designed to carry at least one passenger in a wheelchair.
Stage 2: The remaining six standard taxi licences will be authorised to operate two months after completion of the ballot.
“With the release of these additional 13 licences, wait times for passengers should reduce, taxis should turn up on time and disabled and less mobile Territorians should see an overall improvement,” Mr Kirkman said.
“These new licences in Darwin build on the commercial passenger vehicle industry review undertaken in 2015 and is part of the package of initiatives approved by Government.
Some of the initiatives which will be implemented over time include:
deregulation of the Courtesy Vehicle category effective from 1 May 2016. This removes red tape and makes it easier for businesses wanting to provide a courtesy transport service for patrons
raising the minimum standard for in-car security camera infrastructure to include audio recordings
reducing electronic payment surcharges to a maximum of five per cent for all commercial passenger vehicle transactions once regulations have been amended.
Ballot eligibility information is available on the Department of Transport website at transport.nt.gov.au
Only original ballot forms can be accepted. Ballot applications close 2 pm CST on 20 May, 2016.
Media contact: Simone Phasey Mobile: 0438 286 442