Woman on the train
Sydney harbour
Summary
57
Total feedback submissions

IPART was asked to provide advice to the NSW Government on:

  • maximum fares for rank and hail taxi services across NSW to apply from 1 July 2018, and
  • the number of new taxi licences (other than licences for wheelchair accessible taxis) to be issued in areas outside Sydney from 1 July 2018.

We submitted our Final Report to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure on 9 March 2018.

On 10 April 2018 Transport for NSW (TfNSW) announced that it had determined that 90 taxi licences will be issued in Sydney from July, but no new licences will be added to regional areas, Newcastle, Wollongong or the Central Coast, for the time being.

For more information see:

TfNSW media release

IPART Final Report

IPART Draft Report

IPART Media Releases

IPART Fact Sheets

Consultant reports

The Government has changed the way it regulates point to point transport services. A new regulatory framework commenced on 1 November 2017.

Under the new rules:

  • Rank and hail trips in a taxi will still be subject to maximum authorised fares, determined by Transport for NSW.
  • Booked trips in a taxi will no longer be subject to maximum authorised fares.

The new framework also requires Transport for NSW to decide how many new annual taxi licences will be issued each year. This will extend existing licensing arrangements for Sydney to all other parts of the state.

This review affects people who:

  • may use taxi services, and
  • are involved in providing taxi services.

It could also affect people who own taxi licences.

The first step in our approach for this review was to assess the current level of competition in the market for rank and hail services across NSW. We developed an assessment framework and applied it to a range of evidence about:

  • market share held by taxi services and other point to point services,
  • taxi licence values,
  • passenger demand for rank and hail services, and
  • the availability of alternative point to point transport options.

We also had regard to other matters including the cost of providing the services and the demand for new taxi licences.

Our review process involved detailed analysis and public consultation:

  • In September 2017 we released an Issues Paper which set out our proposed approach to the review and invited comment.
  • We engaged ORIMA Research to undertake a survey of residents in Sydney, other urban areas and other parts of NSW on their point to point transport use.
  • We engaged Taverner Research to undertake a short calibration survey of Sydney residents’ use of point to point transport.
  • We engaged HoustonKemp to analyse changes in taxi and rideshare payments since 1 July 2015 using electronic transaction data.
  • We also commissioned The CIE to estimate the efficient costs of rank and hail taxi services in NSW.
  • We released a Draft Report in December 2017 and invited comment on our draft recommendations.
  • We held public forums in:

Our recommendations for rank and hail fares cover all areas of NSW.

Our recommendations for taxi licences cover all areas in NSW except the Sydney Metropolitan transport district.

Key contact
Jennifer Vincent
jennifer_vincent@ipart.nsw.gov.au
02 9290 8418