Bathurst Taxis Take 4 Million Bookings

NEW SOUTH WALES

NEWS

BOOKINGS

BATHURST TAXIS

Amidst this challenging period of navigating through the crisis caused by a global pandemic, Bathurst Taxis (aka Bx Taxis) has reached its 4 millionth booking through their innovative techbased Taxi dispatch platform – SmartMove.

Ms Teegan Hill, a Bathurst local, was the 4 millionth customer to make a booking with Bx Taxis and was the lucky recipient of a $400 Cabcharge gift voucher.

To be able to achieve 4 million bookings utilising a techbased Taxi dispatch system used in Bathurst, for a regional NSW town with a population of 40,000, is a fantastic outcome. Considering that an average Bathurst Taxi trip is around five kms, four million trips would be equivalent to 20 million kilometres in Taxi travel.

This equates to travelling to the moon and back 26 times.

Bx Taxis is a Co-operative run by its 21 members, which aims to provide quality, reliable and safe Taxi services 24/7, considering the needs of each passenger, in safe, clean and comfortable vehicles with welltrained and courteous drivers in Bathurst.

Hon Paul Toole MP said, "Taxis are an absolutely essential service in Regional and Rural NSW and are the only form of public transport service available to the people in some towns to move around for essential purposes. 4 million customers is a huge achievement by Bx Taxis."

L-R: Bobby Bourke - Bathurst Mayor; Teegan Hill and daughter, Elisha; Paul Shanahan - Marketing Manager, Bathurst Taxis; Hon Paul Toole MP - NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads & Local Member for Bathurst

In the past, Taxis have been perceived to be lagging when it comes to adapting technology in Regional NSW. This perception seems to be very contrary to the reality looking at the achievement of Bathurst Taxis, that have been in partnership for the past 15 years with SmartMove – an Australian owned Taxi dispatch solutions provider.

Bx Taxis and SmartMove have worked together in Bathurst and provided Taxi services in a regional town, equivalent to the capabilities that the larger Taxi service providers have in major cities.

"Technology being used by the Taxi drivers and passengers in Regional and Rural NSW is a great testament to the work they do in these regions. These are the men and women of our community, who are a part of our community and it’s important for us to support them locally", said Mr Toole. Dean Shadbolt, Bx Taxis Manager said, "It’s a great feeling! It’s mind boggling when I think about it for a regional town with 40,000 people to achieve this result."

"It has been a gradual process of different modifications to the hardware and software used for booking by Bx Taxis, with the focus being on adapting technology and changing the services as per the needs of the customers in Bathurst", he continued.

"Bx Taxis is the only form of public transport available after hours and on the weekends for the Bathurst community", said Mr Shadbolt.

SmartMove is a proudly Australian owned and operated Taxi dispatch solutions provider which is used in over 100 Taxi fleets in Australia and New Zealand. It provides a robust dispatch software and hardware for Taxi fleets. Features include advanced technology, comprehensive reporting, 24/7 support and improved productivity - it's ideal for a call centre.

Bill Cumpston from SmartMove said, "Bx Taxis is one of the three Taxi companies that recognised the benefit of the mobile phone network for a Taxi dispatching system early, along with Orange and Dubbo being the other two fleets."

"Bx Taxis is the leader in Regional and Rural NSW for adapting technology and innovating continuously to adapt to the changing needs of the region."

Bx Taxis also provides a takeaway meal delivery service i.e. Taxi Tucker, where a Bx Taxi picks up and delivers your meal to your door. The bookings for these services can be made online, via Bx Taxis' mobile booking app and by phone utilising SmartMove.