Item 9.2 - Attachment 1 |
Detailed Report |
TAXIS IN PARRAMATTA CITY CENTRE
DETAILED REPORT
BACKGROUND
1. This report is in response to the Council
resolution from the Council Report “Taxi Use of Bus Priority Facilities”
considered by Council on 14 December 2009.
2. The draft Integrated Transport Plan for Parramatta City Centre
was on public exhibition in November/December 2009. This draft plan included taxis and the taxi
industry being invited to comment but no comments were received relating to
taxis. The draft Plan is subject to a separate
Council report scheduled for 22 March 2010.
No further adopted documents or policies documents were identified which
covered taxis and private hire cars.
BUSES,
TAXIS AND PRIVATE HIRE CARS
3. Buses are different from taxis and private hire cars and this
is summarised in the table below. The
basic differences are that buses are large shared vehicles with a low fare,
fixed route and fixed timetable whereas taxis and private hire cars are small
vehicles with a degree of privacy, higher fare and passenger demand responsive
to time, destination and origin of travel.
The finer differences between taxis and private hire cars are covered in
the later paragraphs.
Table 1 –
Differences between buses and taxis/private hire cars
Aspect |
Buses |
Taxis/Private hire cars |
Boarding/alighting |
At bus stops only. |
At taxi ranks, street or pre-arranged locations. |
Destination (route) |
Fixed
route and stops. |
Determined
by passenger. |
Fare |
Cheap
(Parramatta to Merrylands $1.60). |
Expensive
(Parramatta to Merrylands $13). |
Frequency |
Fixed. |
Responds
to passenger needs. |
Journey time |
Slower
than private car depending on the number of passengers boarding and
alighting. (Parramatta to Merrylands 15 minutes.) |
Usually
as quick or quicker than private car depending on driver’s knowledge of roads
and traffic. (Parramatta to Merrylands typically 7 minutes.) |
Use of road space |
- Parramatta LGA has over 830 bus stops. - Dedicated bus lanes (including T-ways)
provide priority to buses to assist with journey reliability. - Significantly contribution to reducing
traffic congestion linked to the high vehicle occupancy rate (more efficient
use of road space). |
- Parramatta LGA has approximately 10 taxi
ranks covering the key centres. - Limited use of bus lanes recognising
taxis as public transport. - Minimal contribution to reducing traffic
congestion which is linked to the low vehicle occupancy rate (similar
efficient as private car). |
Passengers |
Shared,
typical capacity of 50 passengers. |
Individual
or group travel, typical capacity of 4 passengers. |
Level of comfort |
Seating
in public space with possible standing at busy times. |
Seating
in semi-private space. |
Typical frequency of use |
Low
cost and frequently used everyday for the journey to work. |
More
expensive travel and infrequently used.
Typical trip is to the airport as it offers direct door-to-door at the
passengers preferred time. |
4. Taxis and private hire cars are different as shown in the table
below. The basic difference is that
private hire cars are cheaper to operate with a limited opportunity to carry
passengers where as taxis are more expensive to operate but have significantly
more opportunity to carry passengers.
Table 2 –
Differences between taxis and private hire cars
Aspect |
Taxis |
Private hire cars |
Hire |
Public service. |
Private service. |
Vehicle
specification and insurance |
Similar to bus industry. |
Similar to private car. |
Regulation |
Regulated
by State Government and to some degree NSW Taxi Council. |
Significantly
less regulations. |
Charge |
Set
by IPART. |
Agreed
with passenger. |
Use of - bus lanes - bus only lanes - taxi exempted taxi banned turns |
- Allowed - Prohibited - Allowed |
- Allowed - Prohibited - Prohibited |
Passenger pick-up - taxi ranks - kerb - prior booking - passenger refusal |
- Allowed - Allowed - Allowed - Prohibited |
- Prohibited - Prohibited - Allowed (only method) - Allowed |
License |
- Limited number - Currently value of Sydney
license is approximately $400,000 |
- Unlimited - $6,000 per annum |
TAXI
& PRIVATE HIRE CAR OPERATION IN
5. There are numerous full and part-time taxi zones within the
city centre and are located as shown in the table below.
Table 3 – Taxi
ranks locations in Parramatta city centre
Rank Location |
Operation |
Primary purpose |
Fitzwilliam
Street opposite the Interchange |
Full-time |
Rail,
bus and long distance coach passengers and Westfield shoppers. Loop bus stops 1 (Darcy St) & 2 (Argyle
St). |
George
Street outside the Parramatta Court House |
Full-time |
Visitors
to the Justice Precincts, Shoppers. |
Philip
Street outside the Crowne Plaza |
Full-time |
Hotel
guests and Eat Street patrons. Loop bus stop 9 (Philip St). |
Charles
Street corner with George Street |
Full-time |
Ferry
passengers, serviced apartments guests and local businesses. Loop bus stop 11
(Charles St). |
George
Street outside The Albion hotel |
Part-time |
Albion
Hotel and Parramatta Workers Club. |
George
Street outside The Roxy |
Part-time |
Roxy. |
Smith
Street outside The Collector hotel |
Part-time |
Collector
hotel. |
6. There is also a taxi zone for set-down only on
7. Premier Cabs has indicated to Council that their intended
method of operation in Parramatta is to use the four established taxi ranks
plus the proposed taxi rank on Church Street to cover the needs of passengers
by dispatching a taxi from the nearest taxi.
There is currently an issue with taxis “overranking” at the Fitzwilliam
Street taxi rank and creating a queue of taxis that backs up through the
intersection and along Wentworth Street.
The new computerised dispatch system aims to address this issue and aid
the efficient dispatch and management of taxis to waiting passengers.
8. The Transport Sub Group of the Parramatta Crime Prevention
Partnership (CPP) is developing a proposal to relocate the
9. Taxi passengers already benefit from the multiple bus lanes in
the city centre and the taxi exemptions from the banned turns as listed below:
Table 4 – Location
of bus lanes and banned turns with a taxi exemption
Location |
Bus Lane |
Banned turn with taxi exemption |
|
Northbound
from |
|
Northbound
from Grose Street to Boundary Road |
|
|
Southbound
from James Ruse Drive to By Street |
|
|
Southbound
from Harold Street to Grose Street |
|
|
|
Right
turn from Church Street to Parkes Street |
|
|
Right
turn from Church Street to Campbell Street |
|
Smith
Street |
Northbound
from Macquarie Street to Philip Street |
|
Northbound
from Argyle Street to Darcy Street |
|
|
|
Right
turn from Smith Street to Darcy Street |
|
Argyle
Street |
Westbound
from Marsden Street to O’Connell Street |
|
|
|
Right
turn from Darcy Street to Argyle Street |
Marsden
Street |
|
Right
turn from Marsden Street to Argyle Street |
10. Taxis have historically used O'Connell Street or Marsden Street
to access destinations south of Parramatta city centre. In 2004 a southbound bus only lane was
installed on Pitt Street as part of the South West Transit-Way to Liverpool. Pitt Street has been one-way northbound for
several decades.
11. The request to allow taxis to use the southbound “Bus Only Lane”
on Pitt Street was discussed by the Parramatta Traffic Engineering Advisory
Group on 8 October 2009. The RTA has the
authority to approve both “Bus Lanes” and “Bus Only Lanes” and it has not been
delegated to Council. The RTA verbally
advised Council that it will not approve the request as it would impact on the
efficiency of bus (and traffic) operations.
There is a B-signal on Pitt Street at the intersection with the Great
Western Highway and it only operates when activated by a bus.
12. There are two issues with allowing taxis to use Pitt Street
southbound. Firstly, taxis can not
activate any B-signal as they have been set-up to detect buses only. B-signals detectors can be adjusted but they
can not distinguish between cars and taxis and are thus open to potential
abuse. One possible solution to overcome
this issue is to use individual transponders but they would need to be
installed every taxi and therefore the cost would be far is excess of any
benefit.
13. Secondly and more importantly, the number of buses using Pitt
Street southbound is relatively very low with T-way buses timetabled every 9
minutes during the peak period. It is
estimated that taxis may wished to use Pitt Street every few minutes especially
during peak times. The impact of more
frequent traffic on Pitt Street southbound is that the traffic signals would be
activated more frequently resulting in more frequent delays to traffic along
the Great Western Highway, especially during the evening peak. Another important factor in deciding whether
to include taxis or not is the vehicle occupancy rate. Typically a T-way bus carries 25 passengers whereas
a taxi would only carry 1 to 2 passengers.
The cost-benefit ratio for delaying traffic on the Great Western Highway
every 9 minutes for 25 passengers is significantly higher than 1 to 2
passengers every few minutes. The same
rationale is used when considering bus lanes.
14. Council’s Traffic & Transport team has discussed various
potential traffic improvement schemes with Premier Cabs to improve taxi and
private hire car access in and around Parramatta city centre. The suggested schemes are as follows:
i) Investigate improving the traffic signals
at the intersection of Great Western Highway and Marsden Street and construct
an exit lane from Campbell Street to O’Connell Street, potentially for taxis
only. The Campbell Street works would
involve extensive road reconstruction to overcome the existing steep gradient
across the road. These investigations
are subject to a 2010/11 project bid.
ii) Investigate the provision of traffic
signals at the intersection of Church Street and Lansdowne Street to allow
taxis to turn right into Lansdowne Street.
Currently there is a right turn ban with an exemption for buses. An exemption for taxis is not provided due to
the limited visibility for taxi drivers at this location. Bus drivers sit at a greater height from the
road and therefore have better visibility.
A new set of traffic signals would allow taxis to turn right safely and
overcome the visibility issue and would ultimately require RTA approval. A 2010/11 funding bid has not been made.
iii) Possible future traffic projects:
a. Investigate an additional southbound lane
in O’Connell Street to the intersection with Great Western Highway and is
subject to the above project being completed.
The additional lane would be left turn only with an exemption for taxis
and include reconstruction of the traffic signals and traffic islands. The scheme would have a negative impact on
traffic on the Great Western Highway.
b. Investigate a right turn ban from Marsden
Street to Great Western Highway and the creation of a dedicated left turn lane
on Great Western Highway into Marsden Street.
15. Council’s Urban Design team are developing a draft Lanes Strategy
2010. The working draft recommends that in
the longer term, the unnamed service lane off the southern side Fitzwilliam
Street be extended to connect with the existing lane that circumnavigates the
Wentworth Street car park. This proposed
lane extension would allow taxis to travel directly from the rank in
Fitzwilliam Street to Parkes Street without making a U-turn. It will also
allow them to set down at the interchange without making a U-turn. To maximise
the benefit for taxis it is suggested that there is an investigation into
providing no right turn exemption for taxis from Parkes Street into Wentworth
Street.
16. It is recommended that Council considers allocating future
funding to investigate traffic signals for the
CONSULTATION
17. A meeting was held with Premier Cabs on 12 February 2010 to
discuss the operation of taxis within the city centre. The issues discussed included a briefing on
how taxis operate within the city centre and related traffic issues and also
their new computerised dispatch system. Council’s
Traffic & Transport team outlined the possible traffic improvements (as
discussed above) to benefit the operation of taxis. At this meeting Premier Cabs invited
Councillors to view their new control room and dispatch centre in
Granville. Premier Cabs indicated that
the nearly installed system would result in a more efficient dispatch and
movement of taxis throughout the city.
18. Members of the Access Advisory Committee were contacted
individually from 19 February 2010 by email and telephone to seek their views
on taxis in
Comment |
Response |
Taxis
are an expensive luxury but a necessity for those unable to use public
transport. |
No
comment. |
There
is a perception of danger when using and accessing the Fitzwilliam Street
rank during the evening. |
There
are plans to relocate the rank to bus area of the interchange from early
evening to early morning to increase security and safety for passengers and
taxi drivers. |
The
identification of taxis ranks for passengers could be improved. |
The
purpose of taxi zone signage is for vehicle drivers. Council to consider providing taxi rank
identification signage for taxi passengers similar to bus stop signage. |
The
provision of telephones at ranks, either as a public telephone or a service
direct communication to a taxi service provider. |
Council officers will raise the matter with Telstra and taxi service
providers for their consideration. |
Problems
with accessing taxis after shopping at Westfield, in particular supermarket
shopping. It
is prohibited by a Council bylaw, yet convenient, to leave Westfield with a store
shopping trolley. |
The
two supermarkets in Westfield are located on Level 5 which is inconveniently
for walk-in shoppers. The taxi
information found on Westfield’s website incorrectly directs customers to
Argyle Street. Council officers will bring
this matter to the attention of Westfield. The
Coles supermarket is estimated as 750m away and estimated to take 15 minutes
of walking and the use of 2 lifts for a person of reasonable mobility to the
Fitzwilliam Street rank. The route is
long and complicated, in particular for those with disability issues and
therefore many people simply exit Westfield on Argyle St/Church St and walk
to either the interchange or taxi at street level rather than use the new
underground extension. |
Illegal
use of the bus lane on Station Street outside the Commercial Hotel. All buses turn right but taxis use the bus
lane to travel straight ahead and delay buses. . |
The
bus lane outside of the Commercial Hotel is a Bus Lane which allows taxi use
however it creates conflict at the intersection with Hassall Street as there
is a B-signal. All buses turn right
and any vehicle in the bus lane at the traffic signals delays buses accessing
the Interchange. The issue of Bus Lane
with a B-signal was raised with the RTA in 2009 and they responded saying
that the lane was marked as a Bus Lane to allow access to the Commercial
Hotel. Council officers will raise the
issue of taxis delaying buses with the RTA. |
Instances
of taxis using bus stops for pick-up and set-up. Taxis have been noted using the bus stops
near the Riverbank Theatres. |
There
is an approved taxi rank currently being implemented near the Riverbank
Theatres. |
19. It is recommended that Council considers allocating future
funding to provide signage at taxi ranks, similar to bus stops, for taxi
passengers to better indentify the ranks.
Senior Project Officer,
Transport Planning
22 March 2010