{"id":271761,"date":"2025-11-08T20:18:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T20:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/271761\/"},"modified":"2025-11-08T20:18:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T20:18:08","slug":"john-75-wanted-a-taxi-outside-sydney-airport-to-take-him-1-5km-to-his-hotel-drivers-refused-new-south-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/271761\/","title":{"rendered":"John, 75, wanted a taxi outside Sydney airport to take him 1.5km to his hotel. Drivers refused | New South Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

John Heron\u2019s four-hour flight from Perth landed in Sydney<\/a> on Tuesday, just before 10.30pm. The 75-year-old had booked a nearby hotel, about 1.5km away, to spend the night after the late arrival.<\/p>\n

Heron grabbed his bag, left the airport and wandered over to the taxi rank across from the Virgin Australia terminal about half an hour later. A worker at the rank directed him to a taxi waiting in a bay. But Heron said the cab refused his fare because the trip was too short.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said, \u2018oh no, you need to walk there\u2019,\u201d Heron recalled of the driver in a phone call with Guardian Australia. \u201cStraight outside the Virgin terminal was the taxi rank, and it wasn\u2019t very busy at all. There were lots of taxis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heron was instead directed to another taxi waiting in the rank. He said he got the same response.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow am I going to walk there, alone at night, along a pathway I don\u2019t know?\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a maze of roads, footpaths, no lights, so it would not be an easy thing at 11 o\u2019clock at night to get there in the dark.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd besides, I\u2019m quite happy to pay for a taxi.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heron eventually did manage to get into a cab after speaking with a supervisor at the rank and snapping photographs of the two cabs that allegedly denied him a fare. The ride to the Moxy Hotel near the airport was less than five minutes, but he said he paid about $28, which he was happy to do.<\/p>\n

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A worker at the hotel, who declined to give their name, said difficulties getting taxis to and from the Moxy were a known problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s from domestic, they usually walk,\u201d the manager said of customers who stay at the hotel. If travellers want a ride, he usually suggest guests take an Uber.<\/p>\n

The New South Wales government\u2019s point to point transport commissioner issued 12 fare refusal penalty notices<\/a> between January and June of this year, the latest period it has released data for on the matter. It issued 58 similar penalties last year, with more than a third of those in December alone.<\/p>\n

In total, the commission has issued more than 1,200 fines in recent years.<\/p>\n

The fine for taxi drivers for the first fare-related offence will be increased from $1,000 to $3,000 in an effort to deter drivers from overcharging, refusing fares or failing to use their meters.<\/p>\n

The commission told Guardian Australia all passengers have the right to hire a taxi from a rank, including at Sydney airport, \u201cregardless of how short the journey may be\u201d. There are only certain limited circumstances<\/a> where journeys can be refused.<\/p>\n

The commission said in a statement that \u201cthe vast majority of taxi drivers in NSW do the right thing\u201d. However, to support a new $60 flat fare trial which launched on Monday, \u201cauthorised officers are out in force at Sydney airport<\/a>, conducting both plainclothes and highly visible operations\u201d.<\/p>\n

If a passenger is refused service due to a short fare, the agency said, they are encouraged to note the taxi\u2019s number plate, company name and report the incident to the point to point\u2019s taxi fare hotline.<\/p>\n

Nick Abrahim, the CEO of the NSW Taxi Council, told the Guardian that while a majority of drivers do the right thing when it comes to accepting fares, any driver who failed to uphold the standards to the industry and abide by the law was unacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t tolerate that,\u201d Abrahim said. \u201cWhatever rationale the driver has, however long they\u2019ve been waiting, that is not the fault of any passenger \u2026 and in actual fact, it is breaking the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are there to serve passengers, regardless of where they\u2019re going, or regardless of how far that trip may be.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Abrahim said the council did take feedback and concern from drivers, some of whom have raised the issue of short fares from the airport. The council is actively working on a solution to support drivers and ensure passengers can get a ride when and where they need it, including some type of a short fare system.<\/p>\n

But, he said, drivers must follow the law.<\/p>\n

A new trial for fixed taxi fares from the rank at Sydney airport to the city\u2019s CBD began on 3 November, widely seen as an effort to help cabs remain competitive<\/a> with rideshare services. For 18 months, passengers travelling to a defined area in the CBD will be charged a set fare of $60 for a standard taxi or $80 for a maxi taxi.<\/p>\n

That fare includes all road tolls, fees, levies and taxes, except for credit card or payment surcharges.<\/p>\n

Asked about incidents like Heron\u2019s, Sydney airport said in a statement to Guardian Australia that it takes fare refusal and passenger rights \u201cseriously\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll passengers are entitled to a metered fare at regulated rates,\u201d an airport spokesperson said. They urged passengers to report any driver who refuses a trip or fails to use the meter.<\/p>\n

Sydney airport recently introduced a taxi concierge program, in partnership with the taxi council and the commissioner, to ensure drivers accepted all fares and operated meters correctly.<\/p>\n

Heron said he understood the taxi\u2019s point of view, but said some trips were long, and some were short.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that is a problem for short trips, maybe put a surcharge on it,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mind paying a surcharge,\u201d Heron added. \u201cIn fact I\u2019d give him a generous tip if he\u2019s a good guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Have you had a taxi driver refuse to take you on a short trip? Contact nick.visser@theguardian.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Heron\u2019s four-hour flight from Perth landed in Sydney on Tuesday, just before 10.30pm. The 75-year-old had booked…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-271761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}