PERFORMANCE OF THE INDUSTRY regulations, implementing initiatives that lead to Section 115SB of the greater safety and accessibility in commercial passenger vehicle services, and engaging with the Transport Integration industry and wider community on safety. This is done through Act 2010 requires the stakeholder forums, consultation, public awareness and education campaigns and the Taxi Services publication and distribution of communication materials. Commission, for the The TSC monitors and enforces safety requirements first five years of its through inspections, accreditation processes, prosecution and investigations. operation, to report SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE on the performance There were 19,818 inspections and interventions of the taxi and hire conducted for the year with a strong focus on vehicle safety and driver accreditation. car industry in its The TSC uses a tablet-based inspection application iFACTS to record data from – – Annual Report. The vehicle safety inspections. Data analysis allows the TSC to establish a benchmarked quality following addresses rating for commercial passenger vehicles. The the legislative TSC uses these ratings to monitor and to report upon the requirement based on quality of the commercial passenger vehicle fleet on an ongoing basis. findings drawn from Over 2016–17, a targeted inspection regime was the implemented, focusing on taxis that were not inspected by the TSC in the previous twelve Taxi Services months, wheelchair taxis, and older taxis. Other inspections targeted taxi drivers to check whether Commission’s they were operating with the correct accreditation endorsements and that their vehicles’ critical safety regulatory activities. features were in order. Operator fleets were also inspected where iFACTS data identified vehicle safety as being generally at a higher risk. The TSC’s legislative objectives include Part of the TSC’s regulatory role is to issue notices improving the safety of drivers and passengers to industry participants where breaches of regulations of commercial passenger vehicles and occur. The table on the following page shows that promoting public confidence in the safety of the the number of infringement and rectification notices commercial passenger vehicle industry. issued in 2016–17 was lower than the number issued in the previous year. For these categories, These objectives are addressed through the TSC targeted notices issued to the most monitoring and enforcing legislation and significant risks to consumer safety and service. 22 TAXISERVICESCOMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2016–17
PERFORMANCE OF THE INDUSTRY Section 115SB of the Transport Integration Act 2010 requires the Taxi Services Commission, for the first five years of its operation, to report on the performance of the taxi and hire car industry in its Annual Report. The following addresses the legislative requirement based on findings drawn from the Taxi Services Commission’s regulatory activities. The TSC’s legislative objectives include improving the safety of drivers and passengers of commercial passenger vehicles and promoting public confidence in the safety of the commercial passenger vehicle industry. These objectives are addressed through monitoring and enforcing legislation and regulations, implementing initiatives that lead to greater safety and accessibility in commercial passenger vehicle services, and engaging with the industry and wider community on safety. This is done through stakeholder forums, consultation, public awareness and education campaigns and the publication and distribution of communication materials. The TSC monitors and enforces safety requirements through inspections, accreditation processes, prosecution and investigations. SAFETY AND COMPLIANCE There were 19,818 inspections and interventions conducted for the year with a strong focus on vehicle safety and driver accreditation. The TSC uses a tablet-based inspection application – iFACTS – to record data from vehicle safety inspections. Data analysis allows the TSC to establish a benchmarked quality rating for commercial passenger vehicles. The TSC uses these ratings to monitor and to report upon the quality of the commercial passenger vehicle fleet on an ongoing basis. Over 2016–17, a targeted inspection regime was implemented, focusing on taxis that were not inspected by the TSC in the previous twelve months, wheelchair taxis, and older taxis. Other inspections targeted taxi drivers to check whether they were operating with the correct accreditation endorsements and that their vehicles’ critical safety features were in order. Operator fleets were also inspected where iFACTS data identified vehicle safety as being generally at a higher risk. Part of the TSC’s regulatory role is to issue notices to industry participants where breaches of regulations occur. The table on the following page shows that the number of infringement and rectification notices issued in 2016–17 was lower than the number issued in the previous year. For these categories, the TSC targeted notices issued to the most significant risks to consumer safety and service. 22 TAXISERVICESCOMMISSION ANNUAL REPORT 2016–17