Tony Jones sounds alarm over ‘rip off’ taxi rank trend

Veteran newsman Tony Jones has raised the alarm over a concerning trend at Melbourne taxi ranks.

Press PLAY below to hear what happened to TJ last night

He arrived at the taxi rank outside Rod Laver Arena at about 11.15pm last night after attending the KISS concert, and found it teaming with taxis, but none had their meter on.

“People were gobsmacked by it,” Jones told Neil Mitchell.

“We would have approached six or seven, all the meters were off and they just said ‘Nup, set fee’. The set fee from Rod Laver Arena … was between $60 and $80 to get to Kew.

TJ eventually got an Uber, which cost him $25.

“They’re, for all intents and purposes, not legitimate drivers, so therefore why are they clogging up this makeshift service lane for taxis for people who do want to get a legitimate fare. Why are theatre-goers or concert-goers getting ripped off? They’ve got to crack down on it.”

Since airing TJ’s story, Neil Mitchell’s program has been inundated by callers who say they’ve had similar experiences recently.

Transport Matters MP Rod Barton says the practice is legal between 10pm and 5am, but he doesn’t like it.

“I’ve raised this matter directly with the Minister himself and I’ve also been raising this for months,” he told Neil Mitchell.

“The regulator has lost control.”

Press PLAY below to hear why Rod Barton doesn’t like the practice

Chris Banks, Director Safety Operations and Policy at Safe Transport Victoria, gave 3AW the following statement:

“The safety of passengers and drivers is Safe Transport Victoria’s highest priority and we would encourage anyone witnessing unlawful behaviour in a commercial passenger vehicle to report it to Safe Transport Victoria or the service provider.

“To help ensure the safety of passengers, all commercial passenger vehicle drivers providing unbooked taxi services must display the approved driver ID at all times.

“Drivers providing unbooked services can choose between negotiating a fixed price with the passenger at the beginning of the trip or running the meter during the trip to calculate the fare price.”