Your NATIONAL association looking after the interests of all in the Australian commercial passenger transport sector.
“A tale of two cities” … not London and Paris, as Dickens wrote in 1859 but Melbourne and Sydney (or anywhere else in Australia) in August 2020. In Melbourne, streets are empty as on-the-whole Melburnians abide by Premier Andrews' Stage 4 lockdown including a total curfew between 8pm and 5am every day. The footage of our freeways, the lifeblood of our city, totally empty defies belief a most surreal experience. Unsurprisingly, this causes a huge impact on every business in every sector, not the least our sector of commercial passenger transport. With people under curfew and lockdown there is almost no reason for our businesses to be open, to provide service. The DHHS advises that "Public transport, ride/share and taxis are available but only to support access to permitted services and provide transport for permitted workers." The CPVV has advised that it is NOT the responsibility of drivers to ensure that the passengers have a legitimate reason / purpose to travel BUT
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we strongly advise that before you accept a ride you ensure that the passengers do have this paperwork. You do not need the hassle that the Police will put you through. (As an aside, my son is an essential worker delivering pharmaceutical goods. He is stopped daily, and sometimes more than once a day. In each case, he produces his paperwork and is thanked for doing the right thing). At the time of writing there are no restrictions on providing a service to the public. On the other hand, in Sydney, aside from a few shops requesting clients wear masks, you cannot tell that there is a pandemic happening in Australia. Streets are still busy, public areas have lots of people in them, shopping centres are full and the roads are still crazy. We know that times are tough out there - where we can we will help - just reach out and ask us.
Class Action vs Uber Uber has lost a bid to have our class action against it thrown out of court.
The case that Maurice Blackburn Lawyers has brought against it alleges UberX is “unlawful” and has not been operating under the regulations, accreditation procedures and licence fees that apply to taxi drivers. Uber had argued in the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal that a class action could not be brought against it in Victoria because it was an international company. But Justices Richard Niall, Kim Hargrave and Karin Emerton on July 22, 2020 rejected its bid to have the case thrown out. Uber claimed there were five reasons the class action should be thrown out, all of which were rejected by the Court of Appeal.
TAA Operators' Forum Planning for the New Normal On 27 July, 38 people joined us via Zoom for our first Operators' Forum - Planning for the New Normal. Emma from Shoestring Marketing gave us some handy tips to start using LinkedIn to its max. The primary thing to remember
DRIVE A2B magazine · www.drivea2b.com.au · August 2020
