I strongly believe the report recently released by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO), that examines Victoria’s integrated transport planning, shows the Department of Transport (DoT) in a new light.

The audit report found that the documents provided by the DoT that were meant to proffer a view of its transport plan, fail to meet legislative requirements. In fact, it found a transport plan ABSENT.
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This lack of transparency is not good enough. Most of the documents referred to by the DoT are not publicly available nor accessible to other agencies or stakeholders.

Get To Know: Bruce Maguire, Lead Policy Advisor, Vision Australia

My name is Bruce Maguire, and I am the Lead Policy Advisor with Vision Australia. In that role I develop the organisation’s public positions on issues that affect the blind and low vision community, and I also write submissions to government and industry inquiries. As I am blind, I use Taxis quite a bit, and I think that taxi drivers can play a really important part in helping to make us feel more independent and included in the community. I have two adult children and became a grandfather last year.

1. If you could be anywhere other than here, right this minute, where would you be? — A: Drinking coffee on a hotel balcony overlooking the Jamison Valley in the Blue Mountains. 

Last month the Victorian Regulator’s CEO, Aaron de Rozario, finished his time with Commercial Passenger Vehicles Victoria (CPVV) and moved into a position with the National Transport Commission.

​Six years ago Mr de Rozario took over the helm from the acting CEO James Holyman, and at that time said that he “was looking forward to meeting Victorian stakeholders and working with the industry to ensure a sustainable future”.

​But, how did that work out? It was surprisingly not so good for Victorian stakeholders!

I have been involved in the Taxi Industry for more than 35 years. I joined the NSW Taxi Industry while I was studying and wanted to earn extra income. I started as a Taxi driver and continued working in the industry in various roles like – fleet assistant, call centre operator, supervisor, customer service, and eventually General Manager and CEO. During this time, I have never asked anyone to do my job or take advantage of any position I’ve given.

1. Who is someone you admire and why?
I have always admired our past and present Diggers; Anzac Day is the most special day of the year for me. I have had the privilege of assisting the Taxi Industry with the Anzac Day March for the past 18 years. I also admire Nick Abrahim (Deputy CEO, NSW Taxi Council) for his dedication and offering his time for this special day.

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Get To Know: Jennifer Moon, Principal Advisor, Access and Stakeholder Engagement, COMS, Guide Dogs

Jennifer Moon is a qualified Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist and has worked in the field for almost 30 years teaching people with low vision or blindness how to travel around their communities safely and independently.

Her work with Guide Dogs organisations across Australia, including communities on Queensland’s Cape York Peninsula and Thursday Island, and in outback NSW, has given her fantastic opportunities and experience working with people of all ages and abilities. Her international experience includes extensive work and teaching in the United Kingdom and also Russia (Siberia).

Your one and only Australian industry magazine has had a name change!

DRIVE NOW - Voice of the Australian Commercial Passenger Transport Industry.

For 51 years (from May 1966 - April 2017) our magazine was known as Taxi Talk - Voice of the Victorian Taxi Industry.

Back in May 2017 we rebranded the magazine to be DRIVE A2B in light of the fact that the passenger transport industry is no longer only about taxis. We found that we were reporting on news for taxis, hire cars, limousine services and rideshare entities.
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However, late 2017, Cabcharge Australia also had a name change — becoming A2B Australia.

COVID-19 has impacted all spheres of society, severely affecting all industries globally and the transportation industry is no exception. Strict lockdowns, restricted travel has led the taxi, hire car and rideshare industry to suffer significant loss in business. With the increased concern around health and safety, drivers across the rideshare, healthcare and taxi industry were hesitant to drive patients and passengers, resulting in reduced capacity and impacting the services. Similarly, passengers also needed to feel safe while travelling in Uber, Ola or any other cab services.