Cabbies threaten to boycott airport over fee rise

[Nigel C]

Is the government responsible for Macquarie being allowed to have such a monopoly?

As I said, it appears that they only have stakes in the tollways, and don't own the whole road. I doubt there is much a government can do to stop part ownership of so many assets, but from a business point of view, it seems to be a smart investment.

Think of hospitals and you'll know what i mean

Yep. I'd rather the $42b 'stimulus' package included a slice, even a little slice, towards our health system rather than the $900 vote buying 'handout' that is currently being offered. Right now, there has been no mention of any funding towards health.

[chrisb]

So, which private company will get the bulk of the ridiculous $14.60 train fare out of the Airport if the Taxi's go on strike?

[Micheil Keegan]

That would be Westpac wouldn't it? Since they bailed out the operators of the rail link.

[Nigel C]

That'd be right...they are our most profitable bank right now!

[D Chan]

Originally Posted by chrisb

So, which private company will get the bulk of the ridiculous $14.60 train fare out of the Airport if the Taxi's go on strike?

the fare might be ridiculous but the taxis might go on strike if the train fares out of the airport line are lowered as people will catch the train out of airport instead

[Owen H]

I'd rather no company had the ability to take advantage of the Australian people, even if they are Australian owned.

They were touted as Australia's big company... but they can fall from greed just like the others.

I have no respect for Macquaries complete lack of good corporate citizenship, and their continual gouging of the public for INDIVIDUAL greed.

I have no problem with private investment in infrastructure as long as it is tightly governed... so far they have way too much power to make whatever profit they like, while providing no service whatsoever.

[Mike W]

Originally Posted by D Chan

the fare might be ridiculous but the taxis might go on strike if the train fares out of the airport line are lowered as people will catch the train out of airport instead

And then watch the Train Fares rise as well. They wouldn't miss a golden chance to price gouge if they could. Either State Rail or the Airport (who's two stations it is that add the extra cost to the fares relative to the Stations either side of the Airport)

[Kelvin R]

As a frequent PAX at YSSY I would have no issues with the tax if the money was being put to good use. Frequently it takes 30 minutes to an hour to get a cab from the domestic terminals while international is not much better. It seems that the issue is not a lack of cabs but an inability to get the cabs in and out of the airport efficiently. The current single lane, nose to tail arrangement is broken and should be fixed. There is also insufficent parking space for hire cars (not rental but cars with a driver) to enable collection. From speaking with cabbies they are often in the holding lot for an hour to 2.5 hours waiting.

Recently the airport also forced an increase in Valet Parking which went from $54 a day to $64 a day and since QF changed the operator from Hertz to some other useless company the km's on my car went from 7km a visit to between 23km and 27km a visit. This makes driving unattractive as the prebooking a domestic bay is also largely inefficient.

Faced with another at least half an hour wait for a cab on Thursday night after being back at the airport some 14 1/2 hours after leaving it in the morning I ran for the also poor train service and found myself home 50 minutes after landing (normally if I cab or drive it is 30 min) but only having spent $16 instead of $60.

I have no issues with paying for a service but at least provide some sort of service for the money. If the cabbies think they can fix the problem through blockades and boycots then as much as a pain this will cause me (especially the days I leave SYD on the 6am and arrive back at 9:10pm) then I would support this.

[NickN]

I'd rather no company had the ability to take advantage of the Australian people, even if they are Australian owned.

They were touted as Australia's big company... but they can fall from greed just like the others.

I have no respect for Macquaries complete lack of good corporate citizenship, and their continual gouging of the public for INDIVIDUAL greed.

I have no problem with private investment in infrastructure as long as it is tightly governed... so far they have way too much power to make whatever profit they like, while providing no service whatsoever

Amen to that Owen, I agree whole-heartedly.