Blue Taxi Company

19/06/2026

🚖 The Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry and the Victorian Election

As Victoria heads towards another election, I find myself asking a simple question:

Who is talking about the future of the commercial passenger vehicle industry?

After more than 30 years in the industry, I’ve seen governments come and go, regulations change, and technology completely reshape the way people travel.

The old taxi versus rideshare debate is largely behind us. Today’s challenges are different.

Safety. Passengers and drivers deserve to feel safe.

Driver earnings. Rising fuel, insurance and operating costs are making it harder for many drivers and operators to earn a decent living.

Consumer confidence. People want reliable, affordable transport they can trust.

Congestion and population growth. More people means more pressure on roads, public transport and point-to-point services.

Driverless vehicles. This may be the biggest challenge of all. The technology is coming. The question is whether governments, industry and communities are ready for it.

There is another issue that often goes unspoken.

I’ve spent decades working alongside people from every corner of the globe. The commercial passenger vehicle industry has been built on the contribution of multicultural communities. Yet many drivers still experience racism and abuse simply because of their accent, background or appearance. That’s not acceptable.

And there is still some unfinished business.

Thousands of former taxi licence holders and small business operators continue to live with the consequences of deregulation. Whatever your view of those reforms, many families are still carrying the financial and emotional scars.

The commercial passenger vehicle industry has undergone more change in the past decade than at any other time in its history.

The question for the next Parliament is simple: What does the industry look like in ten years’ time, and who is prepared to lead that conversation?

What do you think are the biggest challenges facing the industry, and what should the next government do about them?

14/06/2026

The Taxi Industry Is Reaching a Tipping Point

A strong piece by Paul Nicolaou highlighting an issue that should be getting far more attention.

The loss of more than 600 taxis in NSW in just two years should be setting off alarm bells for governments right across Australia. Having spent decades in and around the industry, I have never seen so many good operators and experienced drivers questioning whether they have a future.

What we are seeing is not simply the result of technology or changing consumer habits. It is the consequence of a regulatory system that has stacked the odds against one part of the industry while giving the other a free pass.

Insurance costs of around $5,000 per taxi are outrageous, but they are only one part of the problem. Many operators are still carrying the legacy debt of purchasing taxi licences in good faith under government regulated systems. At the same time, an oversaturated market has left too many drivers chasing too little work.

The real tragedy is the impact on the people behind the wheel. Many drivers have no access to sick leave, annual leave or superannuation. We were told deregulation would deliver a better outcome for everyone. Instead, it has created a growing class of working poor and driven experienced operators out of the industry altogether.

What frustrates me most is that we have effectively handed a significant part of a vital Australian industry to a foreign multinational. Billions of dollars that once circulated through local communities are now flowing offshore. We were promised competition, yet in many respects we have simply replaced one monopoly with another.

When regional communities lose taxi services and wheelchair accessible vehicles become uneconomical to operate, it is not just an industry problem, it is a community problem. It affects older Australians, people with disabilities and those who rely on taxis as an essential service rather than a convenience.

The question governments need to answer is simple: what have we actually achieved, and at what cost?

Without sensible reform, more drivers will walk away, more taxis will disappear and the people who will suffer most are those who rely on these services every day.

07/06/2026

05/06/2026

: A man in custody has spectacularly climbed out of the dock mid-hearing and fled the courthouse, he remains at large in Darwin CBD. LATEST 👉 https://bit.ly/43OrtLj

Police have urged members of the public not to approach him and to contact 000 immediately if he is sighted.

28/05/2026

Westmorland and Furness taxi drivers told shoes are mandatory and new va**ng sign must be displayed as council tightens rules 👀⬇️ 𝙁𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨

28/05/2026

Hong Kong officials say the new framework will bring “safe, legally compliant and diverse transport options” while limiting ride-hailing vehicle numbers to 10,000.The Hong Kong Government has formally gazetted four pieces of subsidiary legislation designed to regulate ride-hailing services, mark...