Cabberra #34 February/March 2016

PLEASE LEAVE ME IN THE CAR FOR OTHERS TO READ.

The Official Newsletter of Aerial Capital Group LtdISSUE 34 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

FROM THE MD: RIDESHARING IMPACT |P.2

NEW CANBERRA ELITE MOBILE APP |P.5

DRIVER OF THE YEAR 2015 |P.11

Cabbies’ Breaky at the Airport

EVENING DRIVERS’ EVENT TO OCCUR LATE MARCH. DATE TBA

Tuesday 8th March 20167am-9am

King Cabby’s TipsMAINTAIN YOUR OWN JOB RECORDSDockets will no longer be required from the 5th March 2016.

All account work will require the fare to be entered into the MTData terminal at the end of the trip.

Dockets will no longer need to be submitted to the Base.

Keep a tally of your account work and discuss with your operator about how to record it on your end of shift summary.

FROM THE MD: RIDESHARING IMPACT 2

FLEET NEWS: INNOVATION & IMPROVEMENT IN 2016 3

CTIA: TAXI PEOPLE LIVING IN AN UBER WORLD 4

NEW CANBERRA ELITE APP 5

EVENTS: MARCH 2016 8

NEW CANBERRA ELITE ONLINE PAYMENT 10

DRIVER OF THE YEAR 2015 11

AMBASSADOR DRIVER & DRIVER POINTS 12

NEW CABSPOTS: ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, ACTON 13

For any enquiries regarding the CabBerra magazine, please call

02 6126 1696 or email [email protected]

TABLE OFCONTENTS

ISSUE #34 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2016

CAPITAL GROUP LIMITED

AERIAL NEWS

FROM THE MD DESKBy Mark Bramston, Managing Director

Five months has passed since the ACT Government passed enabling legislation to allow ridesharing into the ACT public passenger transport market. This is Stage 1 of the legislative change. Stage 2, supposedly the final phase, was expected to be a three month evaluation process, but unsurprisingly it still looks to be many months away. Stage I, clearly an uneven and uncompetitive situation, leaves the taxi industry still paying many regulatory business costs that are not imposed on ridesharing.

With 5 months of experience under our belts it is valid to recap on some highlights from this experience:

• Taxi workload- jobs per car, has not seen a significant competitive impact from ride sharing. Jobs per car are still very viable with the only noticeable impact experienced on Saturday, and to a lesser extent, Friday evenings. Well done taxi Operators and Drivers as this proves the value and quality of taxi services in the ACT.

Ridesharing offered significant marketing incentives ($20 free vouchers) over this period where market share was bought at less than the cost of the product. Given the minimum impact on taxi job numbers, this does not appear to have been a successful strategy.

Over 5 months the total taxi revenue in the ACT is approximately $21M historically, so market reports of a $20M ridesharing impact would appear to be factually unsustainable. Let us all hope that the ACT Government is doing some real market testing and not believing the advertorial media hype.

• Taxi perpetual plate lease renewals are still experiencing strong demand with renewal prices continuing to match historical prices.

• Two perpetual taxi plates have been purchased in the market at prices of $235K and $240K. The operators of both plates have continued with the existing leases in place.

• Three new Silver Service agreements were sold at auction in December 2015 for record prices. Each agreement is leased for more than the ACT Government is proposing to charge for Government leased plates- Who is leaving money on the table?

• Call Centre customer feedback software consistently gives greater than 80% satisfaction ratings.

• Driver Customer Call back software has been so well adopted that it has reduced radio traffic by over 8% and this is growing strongly. Clearly taxis are, and can be, very innovative offering a broad range of services to match customer needs.

So we feel competition is good and not new because unsurprisingly, all in the taxi industry are playing their part in proving that Canberra is a unique, professional and sophisticated market.

Some real problems are building in Stage 1 of the reform process and Government should take heed of the potential for adverse impacts. Drivers are providing video evidence of private cars touting for hails jobs in the Civic bus interchange. One driver has provided video evidence of a private car doing 6 hail jobs from within the civic buses interchange on a Saturday night. The evidence and registration number has been provided to the CTIA for discussion with the Regulator. Will we see the same lack of action evident in other cities around the world? If we do, then this will be proof that the regulatory model is broken and that small businesses in the ACT are being discriminated against in favour of global interests who pay no corporate tax in Australia.

Focusing now on the future, we wait in expectation for Stage 2 and what it will bring. Aerial is ready to compete at all levels and in all markets and we welcome the potential change.

This brings me to the ACT Government’s “modelling of policy scenarios for ACT on-demand transport sector- Aug 2015” report. This is a report available for download from the Transport Reform web site. This is an astonishing document that uses many assumptions taken from work done in NSW and Victoria and indiscriminately applied to the ACT. No consultation with the taxi industry was undertaken before or after the report was adopted by the Minister. This is disappointing because the policy objectives outlined are, in Aerial’s opinion, unachievable without the support of the taxi industry and its strong customer base. Have the emperor’s new clothes failed to impress his subjects?

In conclusion it would appear, after five months living in stage 1, that the market impacts are being felt in areas outside the taxi industry. This impact is certainly not what was forecast in the above modelling of policy scenarios. So what will Stage 2 bring – more extreme policy disruption based on ideology or will consultation with the taxi industry lead to mutually agreed outcomes that build substance into an effective public transport plan for the ACT? There is so much potential here and opportunity available in stage 2. Let’s hope this doesn’t descend into the scenarios currently being experienced in London, Paris, Spain and some states within the USA.


02 - CABBERRA THIRTY-four facebook.com/AerialCG

FLEET NEWS

By Jason Shields, Fleet Manager

Hello to all the operators and drivers for the first fleet news for 2016. In this edition we want to talk about the introduction of the call back feature, lost property and the removal of Aerial account dockets.

Call Back FeatureIn December Aerial introduced the call back feature which has allowed drivers to contact customers directly without having to go through the query channel. On the whole, fleet staff were pleased with the positive reaction to the introduction of the call back feature from drivers when visiting the Airport rank throughout December and January.

Since its introduction the Aerial call centre has seen an over 8% reduction in query traffic. This means that drivers should hopefully be experiencing quicker responses on the query channel. This also means that call centre staff have more time to assist customers with their bookings. A small reduction in the amount of no jobs across the fleet could also be attributed to the call back feature.

A quick reminder to all drivers in the fleet of your responsibility to ensure that the call back feature is used appropriately at all times. On the whole the majority of drivers in the fleet have been using the call back feature in a professional manner but unfortunately we have experienced a few problems with drivers incorrectly using the feature. All drivers are reminded that the conduct listed below will result in the driver being removed from the call back feature for 3 months.

• Advising the call centre that a call has been made to a customer when no call has been made;

• Using inappropriate language towards customers, including voice messages, should the customer not answer the phone;

• Incorrectly advising the call centre that the customer no longer requires a taxi.

Lost PropertyIn other news we have been pleased to receive positive feedback from customers in relation to the return of their lost property by drivers. In some cases drivers have gone beyond the call of duty to assist customers in returning property. To these drivers, well done and thank you for your effort. A special thank you to the driver who recenlty assisted Aerial in the return of the equivalent of A$10,000 in chinese currency left on the backseat of a taxi. A thankyou also to the AFP who assisted in returning this money to its rightful owner.

One of the key advantages for customers in using Canberra Elite Taxis is that we have the systems and procedures in place to arrange for the return of any lost property. Drivers and operators play a crucial role in lost property procedures so please do your best to work with Aerial staff. Without regulations many ride sharing apps do not have the same ability to help customers and therefore this is a selling point to customers who are deciding if they should hire a taxi.

No More Aerial Account Paper DocketsRecently drivers and operators would have received communication about the discontinued use of Aerial account dockets from the 5th of March 2016. Fleet management has received a lot of calls from operators who have asked the question of how to track payment on account jobs without a docket. All operators can track account work via the operator web portal on the Aerial website. If any operators do not know their login details please feel free to contact the fleet department at any time. Drivers will need to keep a tally of all Aerial account work completed in a shift and discuss with their operator how to record and show this income on the shift summary. We know that change can be a little scary but this is an enormous step forward, which should reduce the amount of work required for operators, drivers and Aerial staff.

That’s all for this edition of the Fleet news, stay safe and we will see you on a rank sometime soon!

FOCUS ON INNOVATION & IMPROVEMENT IN 2016

CABBERRA THIRTY-four - 03facebook.com/AerialCG

CANBERRA TAXI INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

Now that Canberra is part of the Uber world, but is yet to find any sign of the “level playing field” upon which the taxi industry and UberX were supposed to compete, it is probably time to take a quarter-time break and review the way we have been “playing” and trying to run uphill.

Firstly, has the world collapsed yet? Feedback from drivers and operators suggests that the workload has barely changed during weekday shifts, but Friday and Saturday nights have seen a decline. There is talk that some drivers on Saturday nights quit driving a taxi and then move into their own UberX car so as to take advantage of surge pricing. Of course they are free to do this if they wish, but surely this is an act of disloyalty to the operator who provides them with a car from which they can earn an income. And using their own family car to pick up drunks after midnight, without the deterence of the taxi security system does not make a lot of sense, especially when drunks are often not particular where they throw up. These drivers will be unlikely to pursue their dual role for long because they will find that in UberX it is the driver who pays for the tyres, fuel and other running costs. There is a big churn of UberX drivers; over 50% and some say it is as much as 90% per annum.

Secondly, the launch of UberX provides opportunities for the taxi industry to be more innovative itself. When UberX takes what we have considered to be taxi work and uses “dynamic pricing” to determine the fare, should not the taxi industry be able to take back this work and apply its own version of dynamic pricing?Passengers do not mind paying for service. How could Mr Barr object to UberX passengers who are happy to submit to dynamic pricing, using an app to engage a taxi and submit to a variable pricing regime? This is not to say any firm plans have been developed, but there is plenty of food for thought. Aerial’s new Epay system provides the opportunity for the passenger to pay in advance to save time at the end of a journey, and provides an emailed invoice to the account holder. The Uber app is hardly better. The newly adopted technology that enables a driver to telephone a passenger when he/she arrives at a pickup point has been very well received by both drivers and passengers and has greatly cut down the number of radio queries.

Thirdly, the increase in the taxi workload over the past two years allows the industry to suffer a drop in work of up to ten percent and still be better off than this time in 2014. During this period, airport arrivals have continued to fall, continuing a five-year trend, so this suggests that any upturn in airport work will have a direct beneficial effect on the taxi industry.

Fourthly, the Canberra fleet generally looks very good, the vast majority of drivers are good drivers and are very courteous to their passengers. Some cars are not as most of us would like and some drivers still need to lift their game, but the reality of needing to compete will help improve or weed out these cars and drivers.The taxi industry in Canberra, and indeed throughout Australia has always been innovative and in Canberra, Aerial has based its competitive attitude on a need to compete with two other imaginary taxi groups.

Fifthly, the level playing field as we imagined it is something different to how others have imagined it, and will never be as we claimed it should. UberX has been allowed to operate in Canberra after the passage of what is called “enabling legislation” and that legislation is currently free of regulations. That means that UberX might as well have illegally commenced operations in Canberra, as the conditions under which they operate are virtually the same as the illegal version. Meetings are to be held regarding the inclusion of regulations designed to focus mainly on safety and risk issues. Inclusion of regulations should facilitate a fairer environment for entry into point-to-point transport services, but will not in itself drive this new competition away.The Canberra taxi industry is already competing. We have a big fight on our hands. Rubbishing Uber is one way to compete, but ineffective; fighting in the market place is a better and more satisfying way.

I will stop here, because I am not sure if “sixthly” is a word.

Taxi people living in the Uber world

CHAIRMAN, CANBERRA TAXI INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION


introducing the new canberra elite

mobile app

BOOK & PAY VIA THE APP


CANBERRA ELITE MOBILE APP I

Canberra Elite Mobile APPCustomer Payment Featuredriver instructions

Canberra Elite App Bookings are dispatched to the Mobile Booker Fleet.If the customer is paying via the App, the MTData terminal will send the driver a message.

Once a pax finalises a booking they can see where taxis are nearby.The App updates in real time.

When the driver accepts the job - the App will update the pax with the TX number.

When the Meter is switched on, the App updates to PICKED UP.

When you reach the Destination:

Select PAY on the CabCharge Eftpos Terminal

Enter the meter fare & confirm.

When the meter stops, the App will update to completed.If the customer is paying by App - the customers mobile phone will await payment information from the Cabcharge Eftpos terminal.


CANBERRA ELITE MOBILE APP

Select APP

The Cabcharge Eftpos Terminal and the customers mobile phones will sync. The Cabcharge Terminal will update when details are confirmed and a receipt will be printed.

The customers mobile will show the transaction is completed with a booking summary. A tax invoice will also be emailed to their account.

Customer’s can pay through the app for hail jobs:

A customer can select Pay Driver on the Home Screen of the Mobile App.

They will be asked to enter the TX number of the car. This is the same number that is displayed on the front guard of the taxi - The TX number is always 3 digits. For example: TX001; TX011; TX100.

Drivers will need to select PAY on the CabCharge EFTPOS Terminal; Enter the Meter Fare & Confirm; Select APP and wait for the Terminal to Sync with the customers mobile phone.

The CabCharge Eftpos terminal will confirm the transaction is complete and print a receipt. The App will also produce a receipt for the customer.

Taxi Passenger


ENLIGHTEN

NIGHT NOODLE MARKETS4/3/2016 to 13/3/2016 7.00 to 22.00

4/3/2016 to 12/3/2016 18.00 to 23.59

Reconcilliation Place, Parkes

Australian National Botanic Gardens

Questacon

Australian Parliament House

National Portrait Gallery

National Library of Australia

National Gallery of Australia

National Archives of Australia

Old Parliament House

Canberra Glassworks

National Zoo & Aquarium

Electric Garden

As Enlighten lights up the Parliamentary Triangle, visitors can tuck into fun, authentic Asian eats, from dumplings to dosa, Pad Thai to gyoza. Bars and music add to the market atmosphere.

The celebration of fantastic food and produce from around the region will continue throughout March, with many of Canberra’s favourite eateries featuring as part of The Canberra Times Good Food Month.

SKYFIRE19/03/2016 18.00 to 21.30

Commonwealth ParkLive Entertainment at Regatta Point from 6pm.

FA/18 Classic Hornet display is going to shake the lake from 6:55pm.

The Navy Squirrel Helicopters will dance above LBG while Aus-tralia’s Federation Guard will be performing precision and artillery

drills throughout the evening from Gallipoli Reach.

At 8:30pm the lake will go dark, and there will be 20 minutes of

the fireworks to 104.7 synchronised radio soundtrack.

PHOTO CREDIT: VISIT CANBERRA




EVENTS

March 2016Tom Roberts 4/12/2015 to 28/03/2016

10.00 to 17.00National Gallery of Australia

Spiders 22/2/2016 to 9/10/2016 Questacon - The National Science and Technology Centre

Magna Carta — An Australian Story 18/2/2016 to 30/6/2016 09.00 to 17.00

Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parlia-ment House

Roll of Honour Name Projections 18/2/2016 to 11/11/2016 18.00 to 06.30

Australian War Memorial

The Ultimate Seafood Dinner. Good Food Month 1/3/2016 - 31/3/2016 Tue & Thurs 18.00 to 22.30

C Dine Bar 17/19 Eastlake Parade, Kingston

Mezzalira Dinner & Wine. Good Food Month 1/03/2016 18.00 to 23.00 Mezzalira Restaurant 55 London Circuit

Red Earth & Ocean: Capella Chef. Good Food Month 1/3/2016 to 31/3/2016 Mon-Sat 18.00 to 22.30

Lanterne Rooms Shop 3, Blamey Plc, Campbell

Sake Bar @ Lilotang. Good Food Month 1/3/2016 to 31/3/2016 Mon-Sat 17.00 to 23.00

Lilotang 1 Burbury Cl, Barton

Chairman’s Friday Wine Club. Good Food Month 4/3/2016 to 27/3/2016 Every Fri & Sun 27th. 18.00 to 23.00

The Chairman & Yip 1 Burbury Close, Barton

Delicious afterDARK Tour 4/3/2016 to 11/3/2016 19.00 to 22.00

Australian National Botanic Gardens

2016 Enlighten Night Noodle Markets 4/3/2016 to 13/3/2016 17.00 to 22.00

Reconcilliation Place, Parkes

Brumbies Vs Waratahs 4/03/2016 19.40 to 21.00 GIO Stadium Canberra

Enlighten 4/3/2016 to 12/3/2016 18.00 to 23.59

Various Venues

Canberra Raiders vs Panthers 5/03/2016 15.00 to 17.00 GIO Stadium Canberra

John Cleese and Eric Idle 5/03/2016 20.00 to 22.00 National Convention Centre

Supper Club and Encounters exhibition night tour 5/03/2016 18.30 to 22.30 National Museum of Australia

Black Opal Stakes Canberra Cup Day 6/03/2016 11.00 to 18.00 Thoroughbred Park

Moon Park at Temporada. Good Food Month 7/03/2016 18.30 Temporada Restaurant, Moore St

Violent Femmes 9/03/2016 20.00 to 22.00 ANU Union Bar

The Great Canberra Wine Dinner #2. Good Food Month 10/3/2016 19.00 to 22.30 Bicicletta, Peppers Gallery Hotel, 15 Edinburgh Ave, Acton

Lights! Canberra! Action! 11/03/2016 19.00 to 22.00 Senate Gardens, Museum of Australian Democracy

Neon Night 11/03/2016 18.00 to 20.00 Canberra Glassworks

Handmade Market 12/3/2016 to 13/3/2016 10.00 to 16.00

Exhibition park in Canberra (EPIC)

Canberra Balloon Spectacular 12/3/2016 to 20/03/2016 Lawns of Old Parliament House

Canberra Raiders vs Roosters 12/03/2016 15.00 to 17.30 GIO Stadium Canberra

Kitchen Garden Party with Matt Moran. Good Food Month 13/03/2016 12.00 Pialligo Estate 18 Kallaroo Rd, Pialligo

Symphony in the Park 13/03/2016 18.30 to 21.30 Stage 88

Canberra Day 14/03/2016 14.00 to 19.00 Stage 88

Local Wine Dinner Pulp Kitchen. Good Food Month 15/05/2016 18.00 to 23.30 Pulp Kitchen, Ainslie Shops

Behind the Lines 2015: The year’s best political cartoons 15/3/2016 to 25/11/2016 09.00 to 17.00 Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parlia-ment House

Canberra Comedy Festival 15/3/2016 to 20/3/2016 19.00 to 01.00 Various Venues

Bridge Room at Aubergine. Good Food Month 18/3/2016 18.30 Aubergine Restaurat, 18 Barker St Griffith

Agave Azul. Good Food Month 19/03/2016 19.00 to 23.00 Elk and Pea 21 Lonsdale Street, Braddon

Art, Not Apart Festival 2016 19/03/201613.00 to 19.00 New Acton Cultural Precinct

Canberra Craft Beer and Cider Festival 2016 19/03/2016 11.00 to 18.00 Mecure Hotel

Canberra Harvest Festival 19/03/2016 14.00 to 18.00 Canberra Environment Centre

Let's Party 19/03/2016 19.00 to 23.00 Westside Acton Park

Skyfire 2016 19/03/2016 18.00 to 21.30 Commonwealth Park

Sound and Fury: Live. Art. Party. Rocket. 19/03/2016 18.00 to 23.30 NewActon Nishi Gallery

National Folk Festival 24/3/2016 to 28/3/2016 15.00 to 23.50 Exhibition Park, Canberra

Canberra Raiders vs Titans 26/3/2016 17.30 to 19.30 GIO Stadium Canberra

Bar Lourinhã Hits Monster. Good Food Month 27/3/2016 12.00 Monster Kitchen & Bar, 25 Edinburgh Ave, New Acton


AERIAL CAPITAL GROUP

of the

Awarded for consistent and exceptional response times and customer service.


driver

year 2015

ernest berry

Ernest has won dinner to the value of $150 at a Chefs Hat awarded restaurant in Canberra

Helping Drivers

BE ALERT with the

Power of Aroma

The scent is non toxic and made of 100% pure essential oils.

15ml Bottle of "Be ALert" blend W$15.99 R$19.99

Personal Inhaler with "Be Alert" blend W$2.99 R$5.99

Ecofriendly card with 1ml "Be Alert" blend W$1.99 R$3.99

Pambula Pure Blends11 The Dress Circle

TURA BEACH

Call Kathryn to order your BE ALERT blend today!

0429 900 530

©2015 Canberra Elite

NEW ONLINE PAYMENT FEATURE

BOOK, TRACK & Pay AT CANBERRAELITE.COM.AU

Customers will soon be able to pay a fixed fare in advance or choose to automatically charge the

metered fare to their credit card at the end of trip.

Pay Metered Fare Via Eway

At the end of the trip the driver will be prompted to enter the fare into the MTdata terminal. Fare is then

automatically charged.

Pay Fixed Fare Via Eway

This will be an Eway Aerial Account booking - Select Red Button Pickup & Red Button Dropoff. The customer

will be automatically charged.


AERIAL CAPITAL GROUP

of the

Awarded for consistent and exceptional response times and customer service.


driver

year 2015

ernest berry

Ernest has won dinner to the value of $150 at a Chefs Hat awarded restaurant in Canberra

Commendable Drivers

AMBASSADOR DRIVERS & DRIVER POINTS

How to earn points?Pickup within 6 minutes = 1 Point | Reject a Job = Minus 1 Point | Recall a Job = Minus 1 Point

MANISH GUPTA

MOHIT THAKUR

Manish Gupta, a message from your customer: You were very polite and helpful. Usually drivers can be upset and angry that it is just a short trip but you were cheerful and very accommodating by helping with her luggage.impressed.

A message from your passenger: “Last week I was in Canberra for a couple of days and used your service. I just wanted to compliment you on your driver of TX1 Mohit. He was a professional and friendly driver, really knew his stuff driving wise and made a nervous traveller feel safe and welcome! You’re lucky to have him!”

February & March 2016

MOHAMMAD SAZEDUL ISLAM

Many thanks to driver 215, he returned my lost keys to me - that I stupidly left of the back seat. I so appreciate his quick turn around. I am a very happy customer.

GURTAJ SINGH

Your passenger called to commend you on your exceptional service. He left his mobile phone in your taxi when you dropped him home from the Airport. He thanks you for taking the time to come back to his house. He said he received a very pleasant surprise when you knocked on his door because he hadn’t even realised his phone was missing. Well done Gurtaj.

driver points winners MALKEET SINGH

SYED KHURRAM SHAHZAD NAQVI

RAVNEET SINGH

PETER STEVROPOULOS

TARANJEET SINGH TAWANA

AZIZ ULLAH

JAWWAD HASHIR CHOWDHARY

PARAMJEET SINGH WALIA

RAGHUBIR SINGH GURPREET SINGUH SANDHU

KULTAR SINGH MALCOM FORSYTH


NEW CABSPOTS: ACADEMY OF SCIENCE

CabSpot 50Australian Academy of ScienceIan Potter House9 Gordon St, Acton

Pickup Near Loading Zone

CabSpot 59Australian Academy of Science

Shine Dome15 Gordon St, Acton

Pickup Front Entrance

NEW s


A break away! 1891 (detail) oil on canvas, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide Elder Bequest Fund, 1899

hotel-hotel.com.au

3091.ROBERTS.CABBERRA MAG.indd 1 17/11/2015 1:59 pm

Documents

Cabberra #34 February/March 2016