Taxicabs of Australia

Taxicabs of Australia adopted the use of horse drawn taxis once cities were established, and in the case of Queensland, Brisbane introduced the first horse drawn taxis, which through out the city area. These also included Hansom Cabs, a more elaborate type with a closed in cabin for the passengers, having two small front doors and glass windows and their driver sitting high at the back. This type of vehicle was a standard type used in England. It is interesting to note that Hansom Cabs were still being used in Brisbane until 1935, and were operating from a rank outside the Supreme Court in George Street.

Motor vehicle taxis were introduced into Australia not long after they were put into service in Great Britain and Europe. In 1906, Sydney inaugurated motorised taxicabs, followed soon after by the other states including Queensland, in approximately, 1907.

The taxis of the period including a variety of types, with tourers and sedans, the latter were mainly French built Renaults, which were designed as itaxis, not unlike the Hansom Cabs. Brisbane had a number of them that plied from the ranks outside Parliament House in Alice Street, and The Supreme Court in George Street. As applied to the Hansom Cabs, the Renaults catered mainly for gentlemen of standing, including judges, Barristers and other notables. The drivers wore uniforms with leggings, the same as those worn by chauffeurs of horse drawn carriages.

Each large taxi company had telephones installed in a steel box type cover at city and suburban ranks, direct to the switch control rooms in the city.

Although motor vehicle taxis were being used at the time, horse-drawn taxis continued in use in Brisbane until the early 1920s, however, only a few. The country towns still had them a little longer.

The progress through the years included many types of tourers from the 1910 era until the late 1920s, with British and American cars predominating. Makes featured such names as Buick, Dodge, Talbot, Vauxhall, Saxon, Ford, Chandler, Studebaker, Chevrolet, Hupmobile, Whippet, Oldsmobile, Marmon, Pontiac, Hudson, Oakland, Erskine, Rugby, Essex and Chrysler.

Sedans were added during the late 1920s and included similar makes of vehicles. This was the case with all cars being imported into Australia until World War II began. The American cars proved more suitable to Australian motoring conditions especially for taxi work. General Motors Corporation built thousands in Australia, as did the other American companies including Ford and Chrysler.

New South Wales

The state of New South Wales, Australia is served by a fleet of around 6000 taxis. The industry employs over 22,700 taxi drivers. [ [http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/inquiries/taxiinquiry.html "Ministerial Inquiry into the Taxi Industry"] , NSW Ministry of Transport, 5 October 2004] This state has the largest amount of taxicabs and drivers in Australia.

Most taxis are Ford Falcons, although a smaller number of Holden Commodores, Ford Fairlanes, Holden Statesmans and Toyota Camrys, Toyota Taragos, Chrysler Voyagers, Holden Zafiras, Volkswagen Multivans, Toyota Hiaces and Mercedes Benz vans are in service. In general, taxis choose to run on liquid petroleum gas fuel.

Taxis are considered a form of public transport in Sydney. The industry participated in a campaign with other public transport operators, "Discover Public Transport - Together We'll Get You There" in the 1990s.Fact|date=January 2007 Many buses, mostly Westbus, still have the stickers.

Industry structure

In general, individual taxis are owned by small-scale operators who pay membership fees to regional or citywide radio communication networks. These networks provide branding as well as telephone and internet booking services to operators and drivers.

Fares are set by the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal of New South Wales (IPART). Other aspects of the industry are regulated by the New South Wales Ministry of Transport and the Roads and Traffic Authority of New South Wales. The industry plays a self-regulating role through the New South Wales Taxi Council.

The industry's dominant player is Cabcharge Australia, owners of the Cabcharge payment system and Taxis Combined Services, Australia's largest taxi network. Cabcharge founder, chairman and chief executive Reginald Kermode also serves as chairman of the NSW Taxi Council. The company is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. Taxi networks number among its shareholders.

Vehicle operators are represented by the New South Wales Taxi Industry Association and, in country NSW, by the New South Wales Country Operators Association. Drivers are represented by the Transport Workers Union.

Most regional centres have a local taxi network.

Queensland

Taxi Services throughout Queensland are numerous and operate in all main city centres, as far north as Thursday Island off North Queensland.

Prior to a taxi company being formed in Queensland, owners of taxis simply had signs on the vehicles indicating "For Hire" painted on the side, front and rear. Before 1924, all taxis plied for hire without a means of recording the mileage, other than the driver himself calculating the fare according to how far he drove his passengers. There was a fare scale, however, the driver could charge whatever he thought was nearest to the amount specified. This no doubt, brought about the introduction of meters.

The first taxi company in Queensland, was Ascot Taxi Service and was formed in 1919 in Brisbane by two motor mechanics. Edmund William Henry Beckman and Edward Roland Videan.

During the 1920s the Yellow Cab Company imported their taxis from the United States, which were built especially for taxi work by the Yellow Cab Co. in Chicago. This was in 1924; the vehicle was the A2 Brougham (mustard pots) - a sedan with the driver separated from the passengers by a window with the baggage compartment in front beside him. The meter was alongside the window by the drivers side. The taxis were also the first fitted with meters in Australia. The vehicle was known as a Yellow Cab, having been built by the company with that name plate on the front of the radiator. The engines were also built especially for the type and were similar to the Willys Knight. The driver's compartment did not have side windows. The Broughams were taken out of service in 1936.

The Yellow Cab Company has now become the largest cab fleet in Brisbane and introduced the first computerised data dispatch from the control room to taxis. The system was designed to increase efficiency and provide a better and safer service for the public and increase drivers security. The computers have been installed into the fleet of over 580 taxis.

Allan (Walter) Ingram of Mount Morgan in Rockhampton has been driving taxis continuously for over 40 years. Ingram is now over 80 years of age and owns the Taxi Service at Mount Morgan. He could possibly be the oldest active taxi driver in Australia still driving cabs every day. He actually first drove taxis prior to World War II in 1939, and has owned a number of various makes of cars over the years.

The Taxi Council of Queensland is the trade association and its objective is to expand the total market for taxi services. [ [http://www.tcq.org.au/ The Taxi Council Queensland Inc.] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.nswtaxi.org.au NSW Taxi Council]
* [http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au NSW Ministry of Transport]