New 2010 Toyota Prius – Introduction.

Old dogs and new tricks.

By stephen clover on Thursday, 30 Jul 2009

http://wellingtonista.com/old-dogs-and-new-tricks

Wellingtonista.com

Wellington’s “ol’ faithful” taxi-cab company Combined (or Wellington Combined Taxis to give them their full title) have gone through a bit of a transformation in the last 12 months or so.

With the arrival on the scene of new “green” player Green Cabs (about whom we have written — and been witness to some controversy — in the past), I guess they were faced with the choice of adapting, or get added to the bottom of the endangered species list.

Happily (for them, us, consumer choice AND the planet that we share) they chose the former.

Read on after the jump to find out what they have been up to..

Early last year, Wellington Combined Taxis made a strong commitment to address the environmental impact of their business.  Firstly, they ruled that from mid-2008 no more petrol-only vehicles will be permitted join their taxi fleet (around 450 cars). In addition, they have undertaken to ensure that by the beginning of 2014, their entire fleet will consist of vehicles which are more fuel-efficient than regular petrol-fueled models. 

Just 18 months in, they already have over a third of their fleet conforming to their new standard, with nearly 50 hybrids, and five i30 diesels with similar fuel-efficiency profiles to the hybrids. They also run a decent number of bigger vehicles like the Sonata diesel cabs, which are still very efficient compared to petrol vehicles but provide a decent amount of leg-room in the back — something that will come as music to the ear of many passengers.

Combined have been encouraged by the feedback from the public which has deservedly been very positive, but the process hasn’t been without one or two setbacks. In March 2008 they were the subject of a “greenwashing” investigation by the Commerce Commission over claims that they were publishing false and misleading information on their website — specifically about LPG taxis reducing carbon dioxide pollution, and the fuel efficiency of Nissan Maxima engines. Penalties for breaching the Fair Trading Act include fines of up to $200,000 for a company.

Several months later Combined were issued with a warning by the Commission and advised to change their compliance procedures to ensure future representations are accurate. Combined themselves reckon they fell victim to the (unfortunately not uncommon) trap of relying on the accuracy of information supplied by vendors, but regard the whole thing as a useful learning experience for the company. Taking the Commission’s advice they have tightened up their business processes to prevent a recurrance. 

There’s been another positive outcome, too. It took them two years of hard work, a lot of education and no small amount of dedication but with the support of Landcare Research — Combined attained carboNZero ^CertTM certification, the first New Zealand taxi service to do so. (Are they the only? It’s hard to locate another.) They meet the requirements of the carboNZero ^CertTM certification having measured and committed to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, and then mitigating remaining unavoidable emissions in respect of their organisation — including the vehicle fleet, office administration, and staff air travel. They’re also the only taxi service in the Wellington region (not to mention the entire country) listed on Greenlist, the Sustainable Business Network’s directory of sustainable products and services. (Huh? No Green Cabs?)

Old dogs are proverbially known for their inability to learn new tricks, but “ol’ faithful” Wellington Combined Taxis appear to have done just that. Their fleet is constantly changing and upgrading to newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles, and they closely follow developments in vehicle and fuel-efficiency technology looking for more efficient models they can allow into their fleet. They’ve decided to do something for the environment, and they’re in it for the long haul. (Is it also the commercially-savvy decision? Possibly. Either way, I reckon it’s the right one.) Good on them! Shake hands? Good dog.

Air hostesses in cab attack.

An Auckland taxi driver has been charged after allegedly attacking two air hostesses over a fare dispute in the central city.

But the cabbie – who until now has slipped under transport officials’ notice and continues to work – says he was acting in self defence, a claim that was greeted by scepticism by a district court judge.

The two women allege the driver hit one of them in the face and grabbed the other’s throat in an attack that left them distressed and distraught.

Taxi driver Zulfiqar Khan, 36, appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday on two charges of assault relating to an incident opposite SkyCity casino on May 9.

Transport officials last night admitted they had not been aware of the matter until Herald on Sunday inquiries – police had failed to pass on details of the case.

The alleged victims are Alexis Hickman-Green, 25, and Rebeka Raiwalui, 24, who said she took time off work to recover from what she described as the “worst thing that’s ever happened to me”. The pair are air hostesses for Qantas and Pacific Blue.

Khan pleaded not guilty to both charges. His lawyer, Charlotte Taylor, told Judge Field “all matters are in dispute except identity”.

She asked for a defended hearing, saying she had limited knowledge of the case because she had just been appointed but her client was claiming “self defence”.

Judge Field expressed surprise, saying: “Self defence? Forgive me for my scepticism.”

He then read from the police summary which alleged Khan grabbed one of the girls by her hair, pulled her to the ground with his hand around her throat, then “started on the other girl”. He then stood over them “yelling obscenities”.

“Where’s the self defence there?” Judge Field asked.

Khan was released on bail and is due to reappear in November for a defended hearing. He is still driving for Summit Taxis as an owner-operator.

Acting manager Shane Jam said the company was aware of the allegations. “He is still driving taxis at the moment. We wait for written notification from the police or [New Zealand Transport Agency]. They tell us which action to take. Until that, we can’t take any action at the moment.”

But NZTA spokesman Andy Knackstedt was only informed about Khan’s charges when the Herald on Sunday raised questions. Normally, a cab company had procedures to allow them to stand down a driver facing serious charges.

Asked whether Khan should be allowed to carry passengers while he faced charges, Knackstedt said it was a “fair question. That’s why we’ll be looking very closely at it [on] Monday morning. On Friday, we asked police to provide us with further information.

“We don’t want to prejudge the outcome but we’ll definitely be investigating it.”

Raiwalui told the Herald on Sunday the ordeal began after she and Alexis had been socialising with friends at the Viaduct. The pair jumped into a Mercedes taxi on Quay St to travel to SkyCity.

Raiwalui said the driver had no problem with taking them, even though it was a short distance and a small fare. She alleged he became violent after a dispute over the payment.

“I think it was around $8.50 and Alexis gave over $20 and he gave her just a couple of coins back.

“We were like, ‘Where’s the rest of the change?’ He just got really angry. He was yelling at us to get out of his car.

“I think she got the right change back. When I got out of the car he was yelling at us, he was saying to me, he kept on repeating, ‘oh you, rough Maori’. I’m not even Maori.”

Raiwalui said she “slammed” the cab door. She claimed Khan then got out and grabbed her by the hair on the back of her head and pulled her to the ground.

The pair tried to defend themselves. “I’ve got hair extensions and I lost hair extensions. He pulled my hair out. I did have a big bruise on my elbow.

“The back of my head was very sore where the extensions had come out just above my neck.

“I know he hit Alexis because she had a sore cheek. She had gravel in her hands and she slid across the ground.”

Another cabbie rescued the women, and took them to the police.

“We were in no way rude to him. There was nothing that we did to provoke him. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”

* Simple rules to keep you safe

Well-known companies are more likely to have internal inspections to weed out bad eggs.

Note driver’s ID and vehicle’s registration number.

If you are putting a friend who has been drinking into a cab alone, take a mobile phone photograph of the driver’s ID and rego plate.

If you become uneasy, call the police or talk to a friend until you are home safe.

Talk about a father, boyfriend or husband who is waiting for you. A pair of men’s boots on the doorstep may help if you live alone.

Car keys are a great weapon if you hold them in your fist with the keys poking between your fingers.

Make sure your spare house key is not in an obvious hiding place.

If you want to make a complaint, contact your local police station or the New Zealand Transport Agency.

NZPA.

Attack spurs new call for cab cameras.

An armed attack in daylight on a Wellington taxi driver has renewed calls for cameras in cabs, despite industry claims that the Government is reluctant to support the move.

The latest call comes after two women held a gun to a Wellington taxi driver’s head and demanded his earnings, before stealing the taxi from Te Aro about 4.30pm on Saturday. The taxi was later found in Island Bay.

Wellington police said they had arrested two women over the attack. They would both face a charge of aggravated robbery. An imitation pistol believed to have been used in the robbery had also been recovered.

Wellington Combined Taxi general manager Kevin Braid said violence from passengers was becoming more prevalent, and the incident was the latest in a spate of attacks on taxi drivers.

The Taxi Federation had approached Transport Minister Steven Joyce last year about installing mandatory cameras in cabs, but was “fobbed off”, Mr Braid said.

“We weren’t after a handout. I believe they’ve fobbed us off . . . they said that it should be included under our own OSH guidelines.”

Several of the bigger taxi companies were now looking at buying a bulk order of cameras so that it would cost less for drivers to fit out their cabs.

In most cases, taxis were owner-operated and many drivers owned the systems within their cars as well, he said.

“Realistically the industry would prefer not to have them [cameras] – but for safety, that’s not an option.”

The cost of installing a decent camera that would produce “credible evidence” would range between $800 and $1000 per car.

In May this year, Mr Joyce ordered a report on safety measures that could be taken by taxi companies but said there was little appetite outside the Taxi Federation for compulsory cameras.

Source: NZPA

Two women arrested after Wellington taxi robbery.

Two women have been arrested after a taxi driver was robbed and his cab stolen, in a broad daylight attack in central Wellington.

They have been charged with aggravated robbery, police said.

An imitation pistol, believed to have been used in the weekend incident had also been found.

Detective Paul Baskett of Wellington police said the women were picked up by the Wellington Combined Taxis driver in Kilbirnie and taken to Te Aro, about 4.30pm on Saturday.

The pair then pointed a pistol at the driver’s head, demanded his day’s takings and stole his taxi.

It was found in suburban Island Bay a short time later.

- NZPA

Armed women rob taxi driver.

A taxi driver has had a pistol held to his head by two women in an attack in central Wellington.

The pair robbed him of his earnings before they stole his cab.

Detective Paul Baskett said the women were picked up by the Wellington Combined Taxis driver in Kilbirnie and taken to Arlington Apartments in Te Aro about 4.30pm on Saturday.

The women then pointed what police believe was a pistol at the driver’s head, demanded his money and then stole the taxi.

Mr Baskett said the driver, who was uninjured in the attack, was “surprisingly good”.

“Obviously he’s shaken up and concerned [about his taxi].”

Wellington Combined Taxis general manager Kevin Braid said assaults on taxi drivers were becoming more prevalent.

“The armed aspect is quite frightening,” he said. “We tell our drivers that their car isn’t worth their life.”

Mr Braid said the mandatory introduction of security cameras in each cab which Wellington Combined was looking to introduce could reduce attacks on drivers by up to 80 per cent.

The taxi, which was fitted with a GPS unit, was found in Island Bay a short time later.

Police were carrying out forensic examinations on the taxi for evidence and said it would be returned to the owner when tests were completed.

Mr Baskett said police believed they knew who was responsible for the attack but had not yet found the suspects.

Source: NZPA

Snapper to bite back?

Snapper will not rule out installing its smartcard system on parent Infratil’s 705 Auckland buses, despite probably missing out on a deal to provide an integrated ticketing system to the Auckland Regional Transport Authority.

The authority announced last week that it had selected a consortium led by French technology firm Thales as its preferred supplier of a system that would let passengers pay for bus, train and ferry travel using a single smartcard. The system is due to be ready in two to three years.

The New Zealand Transport Agency, which would pay for 60 per cent of the project, hopes the Auckland system will become the rump of a “national integrated ticketing programme”.

Transport Agency chief executive Geoff Dangerfield says it “is not starting from a blank sheet of paper”, acknowledging existing investment in smart ticketing systems in Wellington and Christchurch.

The agency said that its approach would “provide the potential for individual public transport operators to decide which electronic ticketing or smartcard system best meets their business needs”.

Snapper Services chief executive Miki Szikszai would not say whether he believed that gave Snapper the green light to install its system on Auckland buses, regardless of the outcome of the Auckland tender.

“We are obviously considering the wide range of options,” he said.

After apparently conciliatory comments in the wake of Arta’s announcement that it had selected Thales for Auckland, Mr Szikszai questioned the rationale for the investment of tens of millions of dollars by the Transport Agency.

Snapper is believed to have offered to extend Snapper to Auckland at no cost to taxpayers.

“There is a really important question which is not being asked, which is, `Why is an investment being made into a system when one already exists?’ There was a statement made by NZTA saying they didn’t want to invest into a system twice, and I think we should ask why they are investing once?”

The agency says there are several smartcard-based bus ticketing systems in New Zealand.

“Arta have sought a proven system that will also support rail ticketing.” It would report on the appropriate process for operators to fund and provide their own equipment.

SNAPPER IN TAXIS

Snapper will be installed in all 1000 taxis in the Wellington region early next year, says Snapper Services chief executive Miki Szikszai.

The agreement follows a decision by Greater Wellington regional council to issue Snapper cards to 7500 disabled people, who cannot use public transport, for use in taxis.

The council pays for their taxi travel under its Total Mobility programme, costing $2.2 million a year, which is paper-based.

Transport and access committee chairman Peter Glensor says the new system will be far more user-friendly for clients.

Mr Szikszai says Snapper terminals will need to be adapted for use in taxis. Once they are installed, the public, as well as those enrolled in the Total Mobility scheme, will be able to pay for journeys using Snapper.

Source: NZPA

Business update: Wellington Combined Taxis goes greener than most.

French firm snaps contract.

Wellington’s Snapper card could be swallowed by a bigger fish after owner Infratil failed to hook a key contract in Auckland.

The Transport Agency plans to provide tens of millions of dollars for an integrated ticketing system in Auckland that will let passengers pay for bus, train and ferry travel using a different smartcard.

Transport Agency chief executive Geoff Dangerfield said that was on the condition that parts of the Auckland system could be used to support similar initiatives in other cities.

The Auckland Regional Transport Authority, which will foot 40 per cent of the bill for the Auckland system, yesterday confirmed it had selected French technology firm Thales, in partnership with BNZ and engineering company Transfield, as the preferred provider.

Mr Dangerfield could not say whether the Transport Agency’s vision for a “national integrated ticketing programme” would mean Snapper would eventually be taken off Wellington buses.

He believed that could be avoided. It was possible the two ticketing systems could be “integrated”.

Talks had yet to take place with Snapper Services about how that could work in practice.

“That is exactly what we are going to work our way through now.”

Snapper Services is owned by NZX-listed infrastructure investor Infratil, which is also the country’s largest bus operator.

The attraction of a central system was that the agency and regional councils would get a “rich source of information” on the journeys passengers were making, Mr Dangerfield said. That could help them calculate the appropriate route subsidies to pay to transport operators. It was not concerned with how tickets were paid for.

Wellington Regional Council transport development manager Brian Baxter said the council put its plans for an integrated ticketing system for buses and trains on hold earlier this year, while it waited to see what happened in Auckland.

Snapper Services complained to Transport Minister Steven Joyce about the Auckland tender in December, arguing ARTA had been biased against a proposal it had put forward to extend Snapper to Auckland and had not run the tender properly.

The Transport Agency published a report yesterday that rebutted those accusations and found the tender was fair. Mr Dangerfield said as far as it was concerned, the matter was now closed.

Snapper Services had told the agency it “reserved all rights” in relation to its complaints code that it was considering legal action.

But chief executive Miki Szikszai said yesterday that it “unreservedly accepted the findings of the review”.

There was no chance of Snapper being withdrawn and it was well placed for further growth, he said. The Transport Agency had endorsed the right of transport operators to pick their own ticketing systems, as long as they met “open standards” that allowed information to be fed into a central system.

Last year the agency approved $42 million in capital funding and $3.9m a year in operational funding to meet 60 per cent of the costs of the Auckland integrated ticketing system.

Mr Dangerfield said that did not indicate the likely value of Thales’ contract, as there had been changes.

ARTA chief executive Fergus Gammie said Thales was an excellent provider of integrated ticketing systems worldwide, having completed 100 systems in cities including Paris, Oslo and Toronto.

The system would probably take two to three years to complete.

Source: NZPA

Snapper preferred tenderer for Total Mobility.

Snapper, the company that runs the smart card system on Wellington and Hutt Valley buses, has been chosen as the preferred tenderer for the provision of an electronic card service for Greater Wellington’s Total Mobility scheme.

Total Mobility is a subsidised taxi service for about 7,500 people in the Wellington region who, because of a disability, cannot use regular bus or train services.

Greater Wellington will now finalise the contract for the development and implementation of the electronic card system for Total Mobility and the processing of client transactions.

TaxiCharge NZ Ltd, New Zealand’s leading taxi billing management system with more than 31,000 account holders, and Eyede NZ, which provides end-to end secure credential management solutions, are partnering with Snapper in delivering the scheme. The service is expected to be fully operational early next year.

Peter Glensor, Chair of Greater Wellington’s Transport and Access Committee, said the new system would be far more user-friendly for clients.

“Currently, clients have to present and complete a paper voucher every time they use the service. When we go electronic, they will simply get the driver to swipe their electronic card. They won’t have the hassle of finding their vouchers, or having to order a new lot of vouchers every so often. It will make the service much easier and more convenient to use for both our Total Mobility clients and taxi companies.”

Miki Szikszai, Snapper Chief Executive Officer, said he was delighted. “This is a further acknowledgement of the strength of the Snapper solution within both local government and commercial environments. We look forward to partnering with Greater Wellington to deliver the new Total Mobility scheme.”

Snapper Services Limited leads the smartcard-based small value payments market in New Zealand. Snapper is installed in more than 370 buses and 150 retailers in New Zealand offering Snapper customers integrated ticketing and instant small value payments. Snapper Services Limited was formed in 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Infratil Limited.

TaxiCharge was introduced in 1992 and now processes more than 300,000 transactions per month on behalf of its partners nationwide. 

Source: NEWS RELEASE FROM GREATER WELLINGTON REGIONAL COUNCIL.