Taxi safety focus 'not worth it'

New driver safety regulations coming into effect on Monday are not worth the hundreds of thousands of dollars they are costing cab companies, River City Cabs owner Bob Anderson says.
The new government regulations require every taxi to be fitted with a security camera, a distress alarm, and a 24/7 dispatch system.
But Mr Anderson said with only one incident of violence in his taxis in Wanganui in the past 16 years, the cost of equipment and operations changes was not worth it, especially considering the 30 to 40 per cent downturn in the industry in recent times.
River City Cabs spent $36,000 on the set-up to accommodate the new law, including the cost of the cameras, and an additional $106,000 on operating costs.
In order to comply with the 24/7 dispatch service part of the legislation, Mr Anderson's cab company set up a new in-house dispatch system with help from Wanganui company TLC Communications.
"We were forced into a situation, but now we are going to make the most of it," he said.
All 15 of his taxis would be ready to roll with new cameras and alarms from midnight Sunday.
Some smaller companies, which could not afford the costs of complying with the driver safety legislation, would be "pulling the pin" from August 1, he said.
The company had already employed two more people to help run the dispatch service.
The dispatch service would keep the work in Wanganui and give other companies in the area the chance to use River City Cab's system.
"We are looking towards dispatching to other companies... Wanganui people don't want the work going to Palmerston North," he said.
Wanganui Co-operative Taxi Society manager Jacquie Jones said they were still installing the new equipment but their taxis would be ready by August 1.
"It's heads down, bums up at this stage." Unlike River City Cabs, Wanganui Co-operative Taxi Society would have its call centre in Palmerston North.
Each car would have a data dispatch unit, she said.
The taxi society's in-car cameras had been sourced from Australia and were New Zealand Transport Agency-approved. Ms Jones would not comment on how much the cameras, data dispatch units, or call centre operations had cost at this stage.
Earlier this year the New Zealand Transport Agency, which is policing the regulations, said there would be no exceptions for companies that failed to meet the deadline.
Companies who did not meet the deadline faced a fine, and would have their taxi licences revoked if they continually failed to comply.