Taxi driver shake-up

Alex de Vos
A shake-up of the region’s taxi drivers will deliver improved services, according to an industry boss.
Geelong Taxi Network’s Peter Valentine said drivers now faced penalties for a range of misbehaviour including leaving potential passengers stranded.
The Independent has previously reported on complaints about the region’s taxi services and drivers, including allegations of sexual harassment and assault on passengers.
Mr Valentine said the network would slug drivers who abused the regulations with penalty points and force them to pay for retraining.
Driver offences also included smoking in the taxis and swearing over the two-way radio.
Mr Valentine said penalties ranged from one to three points depending on the severity of the infringement.
Drivers who clocked up five points would have to pay for retraining courses including customer service, health and safety.
Mr Valentine said the sweeping reforms would apply to the network’s 145 vehicles across the region.
He was confident the reforms would deliver improved services across the region.
“The message is not necessarily clean up or pay up, it’s about trying to improve our service,” Mr Valentine said.
“We have a huge number of new drivers to the area and we want to make sure they’re fully aware of the way to do things and how to provide excellent customer service.
“We think it’s a good idea – it’s about making them better drivers.”
Mr Valentine said the network would investigate complaints against drivers before imposing penalty points.
“It’s not just customers who can make complaints, our quality assurance officer will also pick them up,” Mr Valentine said.
“We always welcome customer feedback.”
Mr Valentine said the reforms were part of a complete shake-up of Geelong taxis.
“We’ve recently installed our new dispatching system and improved the telephone service, which will make the process a lot better,” he said.
“This year has been a huge year for us.”
Earlier this year the Independent reported a young woman’s allegations she was forced to flee a taxi and hide in the early hours of a Sunday in Geelong after the driver became aggressive when she rejected his sleazy advances.
In a separate incident, last year a Bell Park taxi driver appeared in Geelong Magistrate’s Court on 12 charges including theft, unlawful assault, obtaining property by deception and the indecent assault of a 37-year-old Torquay woman.