What makes a taxi?
Taxis are regulated
The 'Grab a Cab!' campaign is an initiative of the Australian Taxi Industry Association (ATIA) to raise awareness within the community of the importance of only using regulated, licenced taxis.
The emergence of illegal ride-sharing and unauthorised taxi like services in Australia has sparked concern within the industry for the safety of passengers and the wider community. Getting into an unauthorised, unlicenced taxi means you have no guarantee that your driver is unaffected by drugs and alcohol, is certified medically fit and has passed all criminal and traffic history checks.
It means you have no guarantee that their vehicle meets important safety requirements, in terms of age, road worthiness and insurance cover.
Most importantly though, with no official taxi licence, you have no organisation or body to report any issues to should something go wrong during your journey.
- Taxis are the only authorised and regulated public on-demand 24/7, door-to-door transportation service available in Australia
- Australian taxis do not discriminate, providing transport to the elderly, the disadvantaged and Australians with disabilities
- Australian taxis provide an essential service to communities in both rural and metropolitan areas
- Australian taxi drivers are required to pass comprehensive character assessments and stringent criminal history background checks in order to be authorised to take passengers
- All Australian taxi networks, taxi vehicles and taxi drivers operate under regulations designed to protect passengers and to make travel safe, accessible and affordable
- All of Australia's 68,000 cab drivers are self-employed, meaning that by catching a licenced taxi, you are supporting small business
Taxis are green
Taxis were the first transport fleet in Australia to adopt Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as a cleaner form of energy for vehicles.
The vast majority of taxis in Victoria rely on LPG to fuel their journeys - over 1 billion kilometres a year.
LPG powered vehicles emit significantly less greenhouse gases and other pollutants than petrol-powered vehicles.
Hybrid-Electric vehicles are also increasingly popular in the taxi industry, built to be more fuel efficient with the combined use of an electric engine they are responsible for lower carbon emissions.