On Saturday, 19 February, the Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s Inspectors alongside City of Sydney Police Area Command carried out a joint compliance operation at Lime St in Sydney’s CBD, targeting taxis and hire vehicles (including rideshare). The joint operation focussed on vehicle standards and driver compliance and was conducted just less than three weeks after the last operation.
Vehicle Standards
The joint compliance operation resulted in 73 hire vehicles (including rideshare and taxis vehicles being inspected to ensure they are appropriately maintained.
The majority of inspected vehicles met required compliance standards for point to point transport in NSW, however, the operation identified some vehicles operating with faulty brake lights or headlights, worn brake pads, insufficient tyre tread, or window tinting beyond the legal allowance. Vehicle defect notices and prohibition notices were issued where vehicles did not comply with relevant vehicle standards.
Taxis and hire vehicles (including rideshare) must be properly maintained. Compliance will be targeting vehicles that aren’t, as well as service providers and vehicle owners.
Driver compliance
The joint compliance operation identified some instances where drivers were not displaying the necessary identification. Penalty notices were issued to taxi drivers who were not displaying their driver identification, and to rideshare drivers who failed to display a retroreflective sign on the vehicle that identifies it as a hire vehicle, as the point to point transport safety standards require. The display of taxi driver’s identification and retroreflective hire vehicle signs are both important safety measures associated with those services.
Taxi driver identification for taxis and retroreflective signage for hire vehicles serve to identify that the driver operates for an authorised service provider, and in doing so that service provider has conducted relevant checks on the driver to ensure they are suitable to drive passenger service vehicles.
Compliance notices were also issued on the day with respect to, taxis that were found not to have been fitted with a compliant security camera system, and signage on passenger service vehicles.
The Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s joint operations with NSW Police are highly effective compliance activities in which the safety requirements under the point to point transport law is enforced, and one of the many ways we work together to achieve safer point to point passenger services in NSW.
For more information driver safety obligations including toolkits on driver id and retroreflective signs, educational tools and resources for service providers, see the Point to Point Transport Commissioner’s website.