Is it still safe to get a taxi when you're drunk and a woman?

Friday, 12 October 2018

Between 2018 and early 2021, the number of people holding small passenger small passenger service vehicle licences went from about 17,600 to 29,905.

'If you're drunk or alone, get a cab, it's safer.' Amanda Cropp investigates whether that age-old advice is still true and finds concerns about safety are rising, alongside new travel options like rideshare company Uber.

Uber's driver guidelines are quite explicit - no flirting, no touching, no overly personal questions or aggressive gestures, no sexual comments and definitely no sex with customers.

Last year a law change transformed the taxi industry, sparking an explosion in rideshare operators such as Uber and Zoomy, and it's estimated there are now between 8000 and 9000 cars for hire on our roads.

While passengers revel in lower fares and the ability to track a cab's arrival on their smart phones, there's debate over whether the changes have lowered standards.

* Uber driver allegedly asks for Auckland passenger's hand in marriage - 'for a friend'

* Auckland taxi driver will face a second trial for the alleged groping of Jay-Jay Feeney

* Sexual predators posing as Uber drivers are 'attacking women leaving bars'**

Some argue deregulation went too far in relaxing the requirement for cab security cameras, letting in cowboys who flout the rules, and compromising customer safety.

Sophie Denman of Wellington’s female-focused taxi-service Sophie’s Angels says her cars carry sick bags and – unlike many taxis - they won’t leave young women who have thrown-up sitting on the footpath where they may be at risk.

Cases under investigation by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) include that of a Nelson taxi driver who was ticked off by police for trying to cuddle a woman passenger, then left the country after another female customer reported he had sexually assaulted her.

Uber declined to say how many complaints have been made about its 4000-plus New Zealand driver-partners, but is clearly sensitive to safety issues.

It has just introduced an emergency assistance button so users can call 111 from the app, and another new feature allows riders to share trip details with up to five trusted contacts.

Uber also emphasises that real time customer feedback and a 24 hour 'incident team' means it quickly responds to problems and locks out miscreant drivers.

Uber is getting a new competitor when an Auckland law student launches a female-only ride sharing service later this year.

Auckland's Help centre for sexual abuse survivors has received six complaints about taxi and rideshare drivers over the past three months, ranging from women who were propositioned to those who were indecently assaulted.

Executive director Kathryn McPhillips says it's hard to know if the problem is increasing, or if it's just that more people are using this form of transport.

In her view, taxi drivers who behave badly simply reflect attitudes found in wider society.

'The world believes young women are fair game, if you're drunk you're even more fair game.'

McPhillips likes the idea of DriveHer, a female-only rideshare service starting in Auckland in December, and there's a similar one already underway in Wellington.

'There are many wonderful male taxi drivers out there, but these guys who assault people are just ruining it for all of them.'

Christchurch taxi drivers protested outside MP Nicky Wagner's office over a National Government policy which led to rideshare apps taking work off them.

DriveHer founder Joel Rushton has recruited 30 women drivers and hopes to expand to Christchurch, Wellington, and Tauranga.

The service will only carry men if they are travelling with a woman and sit in the back seat.

Rushton says DriveHer cars will have a logo on the back so customers don't accidentally get into the wrong vehicle, which happens with Uber because cars are not marked.

'People can take advantage of situations like that, and probably most of the time they don't, but sometimes they do.'

Do you have a story to share? Contact amanda.cropp@stuff.co.nz.

Deciding who's 'fit and proper'

With the passing of the Land Transport Amendment Act, shuttles, taxis, and rideshares are all classed as small passenger service vehicles.

Taxi companies are peeved rideshare cars use small passenger service vehicle stands (formerly taxi ranks), even though vehicles without security cameras are not supposed to pick up customers from them.

Licence applicants must be fit and proper persons, ruling out those with convictions for serious crimes and driving offences, a history of unpaid traffic fines, behavioural problems or past complaints relating to transport services..

Almost 17,600 people currently hold small passenger service vehicle service licences (not all are actively in use), and over the three years to the end of 2017, the NZTA suspended or revoked 1058 licences on the grounds that holders failed the 'fit and proper' test.

Bob Wilkinson, chief executive of the Blue Bubble Alliance of 16 taxi companies, says the bar has been set too low, letting in operators without the wherewithal or the will to do a proper job.

'You're getting instances where people phone up to lay a complaint with a taxi company, and the only person who will take the call is the person they're complaining about.'

Larger companies can afford to subscribe to a NZTA database which alerts them if a driver has his P (passenger) licence suspended or revoked.

Wilkinson also believes smaller operators tend to 'flick on' problem drivers without reporting the kind of improper behaviour that would see NZTA take them off the road.

In camera

But what really irks him was the decision to make in-cab security cameras optional for operators in smaller centres and for those accepting rides pre-booked through apps such as Uber.

'I think every small passenger service vehicle should have a camera, end of.

'I've never accepted that small town thing either - if it's good enough for Christchurch, why not in Timaru? - you have your bad eggs down there as much as up here.'

Taxi Federation executive director John Hart agrees, and he has lobbied Transport Minister Phil Twyford for a review of the new laws and the reinstatement of compulsory cameras.

Hart dismisses suggestions the taxi industry is suffering a bad case of sour grapes and says they can live with the increased competition,'but these things are matters of public safety.'

Ben Unger is a director of New Zealand-owned rideshare app Zoomy and he too has reservations about the extent of deregulation.

'We operate within the law, however it's possible to do it outside the law, and that's where the regulations perhaps need more teeth.'