1 February 2006 - Potential Competition for the Taxi Market

Macquarie Bank today announced its intention to establish a Disabled Taxi Fleet - with an apparent initial allocation of two hundred and fifty plates in Sydney. The consortium developing this new fleet includes Macquarie Bank, Linfox Transport and interests associated with John Brown a former Tourism Minister in the Hawke Labor Government. Reporting on this prospective new taxi fleet, the Sydney Morning Herald (14 February) stated "...disabled passengers have long complained that they wait too long for taxis..." and that the joint venture partners "....believe State Government schemes have failed to look after disabled passengers...".

Based on the kind of financial rewards that Macquarie Bank usually expects, it is unreal to think that the Bank and Linfox Transport will be going for big financial returns from Disabled Taxis. Is it not more likely that this is the first play by some very powerful vested interests who are intending to provide some very substantial new competition for the Taxi Industry - in every part of Australia? Is the fragmented Australian Taxi Industry presently capable of meeting such a national challenge?

For more than 10 years 131 008 has been urging participation in the national 131 008 network as one means of building a Wall of Protection around our taxi customer base - against prospective future competition of exactly the kind that might now be sailing up over the horizon on the Macquarie/Linfox ship. The strength of 131 008 in such an environment will be very much dependant on the willingness of all in the 131 008 fleet to work together towards that Wall of Protection objective.

The enormous efforts to persuade the 131 008 fleet to adopt a single uniform national decal have been reasonably successful. Unfortunately a continuing misplaced loyalty to 'local' as against 'national' taxi brands is a lot more widespread than it should be - and that misplaced loyalty does continue to hinder the development of the single national 131 008 wall of protection. That continuing view of the significance of 'local brands' may some day prove to be in stark contrast to the single-minded national purpose that the likes of Macquarie/Linfox can bring to the same task.

131 008 - help us to protect your market.

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