Transport Subsidy Scheme

In reply to the Hon. K.L. VINCENT (29 March 2017).

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Police, Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Road Safety): The Minister for Transport and Infrastructure has advised:

1. There are no exemptions for charging the point to point service transaction levy (aka the '$1 levy') for trips in metropolitan taxis. The levy applies to all metropolitan taxi trips, including those subsidised through the South Australian Transport Subsidy Scheme (SATSS).

2. SATSS members will not have to pay any portion of the levy, nor are taxi drivers expected to absorb this cost themselves. The government will pay the $1 levy in full on all trips subsidised by SATSS.

3. The levy will apply to SATSS trips, but SATSS members will not be required to personally contribute to the levy.

4. The on-time bonus is a contract payment made through the Access Taxi centralised booking service (CBS) to taxis with a general licence with special conditions. As part of those conditions, Access Taxis must belong to the government contracted centralised booking service for access taxis.

Country taxis do not have any licence conditions placed on them and are not required to belong to a centralised booking service. As such, the on-time bonus is not paid to country taxis.

However, country taxis are permitted to apply fares up to 20 per cent higher than the Adelaide metropolitan taxi fares across their fee structure. A lifting fee may be approved as part of a country taxi fare if the total fare is within this permissible allowance, and replaces the metered fare for the time taken to assist people into and out of a taxi.