Taxi Plates

Discussion in 'Starting & Running a Business' started by Darlinghurst Boy, 10th Jul, 2015.

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  1. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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  2. Richard Taylor

    Richard Taylor Well-Known Member

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    Interesting article in Sydney Morning Herald on the matter.

    The cost of buying a taxi licence plate in Sydney has dropped to its lowest level in six years.

    Until relatively recently, buying into Sydney's taxi industry had been a far better investment on average than buying shares.

    But the industry is under pressure on a number of fronts, including from the government regulator and the fast-growing ride-share service UberX, and licence plates, which can be leased but which are needed to drive a cab in Sydney, have started to feel the squeeze.

    This year, the transfer value of a taxi licence in Sydney dropped to an average $375,000, the lowest level since 2008. Licence values reached a high of about $425,000 in 2011.

    The state's pricing regulator, which is to release another report next week calling for t costs in the cab industry to be reduced more, said the return on buying a taxi licence plate in Sydney was more than 1.5 times as lucrative as the return of the stock market in the decade to 2012.

    The growth of the value of taxi licences was concerning to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART), because an increasing share of every taxi fare in Sydney was spent repaying the value of the licences.

    But IPART has since started to release short-term taxi licences, helping put more cabs on the road in Sydney.

    Roy Wakelin-King, the chief executive of the Taxi Council, said the drop in licence values had more to do with government policy than with competition from UberX, the ride-sharing service that enables regular motorists to offer taxi-like services.

    "The principal cause of any downward pressure on taxi licence values has been an oversupply of licences that have been put into the market over the past four to five years, all of which have been in the post-GFC period," Mr Wakelin-King said.

    "It is difficult to assess what the extent of the impact, if any, ride-sharing has had on licence values," he said.

    Despite the perception that ownership of licence plates is concentrated among a number of dominant forces in the taxi industry, IPART figures show that the majority of plates are owned by people who own only one.

    Tammy Younan and her husband Anthony own six taxi licences, accrued over the 25 years Anthony was a driver.

    "We decided to lease the plates and that was our income," Mrs Younan said.

    "We haven't really been checking the market value, but only just recently with the talk about UberX we have become a bit concerned," she said.

    The NSW government says UberX is illegal, but has struggled to minimise the growth of the service because of the difficulty of enforcement. Government officials need to book UberX services themselves to prove drivers are breaking the Passenger Transport Act.

    "Several fines of thousands of dollars have already been issued for those breaking the law and enforcement operations and prosecutions are progressing," a Transport for NSW spokeswoman said.

    Separately, IPART will release next week its draft recommendations on taxi fares to apply in Sydney from the middle of next year, and draft recommendations on how many annual taxi licences it should release.

    Recent IPART reports have recommended holding taxi fares steady and increasing the number of annual licences released, to reduce the value of permanent taxi licences in the city.


    Still a couple of lenders that take them as security but must admit haven't financed one for a while.
     
  3. datto

    datto Well-Known Member

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    There could be value in a taxi plate as a collector's item , especially if the plate is a low number ie an early issue.

    Alternately, they could be used by kids as a frisby at the local park. The govt seems unable to stop Uber.....taxis will only suffer a slow and painful death.
     
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  4. Darlinghurst Boy

    Darlinghurst Boy Well-Known Member

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    No lender I know takes Taxi plates as Security anymore except Arab Bank ( 60% of the plate at 9%)
    Sydney Taxi plates are selling on taxi trader website for as low as 310k.

    If what the Taxi Council spokesmen says is right, that is its an oversupply of taxi plates rather than Uber , then plates should rise again on e Sydneys population increases ?

    Current plates selling around 310 to 330k , taxi companies currently leasing from you monthly down to $490 week , this month in August, was $490 a week per week down $5 and has been going down average $5 a month.
    Taxis Combined July 2015 paying $495 week , August $490 week
    Premier July 2015 paying $490 week, August $480 week down $10
     
    Last edited: 10th Aug, 2015
  5. larrylarry

    larrylarry Well-Known Member

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    are you planning to buy or sell? sounds like you've got them for investments.
     
  6. Mombius Hibachi

    Mombius Hibachi Well-Known Member

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    http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/uber-face...taxi-drivers-association-20150810-givf53.html

    Good example of a business model with a former monopoly attempting to shut down a new business model, because it's easier to try to shut out competition and remain fat and lazy instead of meeting the competition head on and figuring out how to provide a superior service.

    I hope the Australian Taxi Association and Russell Howarth get torn apart in court. Who are they to try and force consumers into using a single option for their transport needs.
     
  7. Ouga

    Ouga Well-Known Member

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    "Trying is the first step towards failure" Homer
    "If what the Taxi Council spokesmen says is right, that is its an oversupply of taxi plates rather than Uber , then plates should rise again on e Sydneys population increases ?"

    Well, I guess he's ********ting then!
    If he or anyone think the concept behind Uber is going to go away they are either delusional or trying to mislead others.
    As it has been pointed out before, Uber drivers get reviewed by customers and if their score drops under a high satisfaction level they are kicked out. Which means if I ride a filthy car with Uber, or the driver checks his mobile while driving or spend the entire trip on the phone, I can and will report it. If other customers also feel unhappy, before long this driver and car will be gone.

    Regular cab drivers however are a different story: when you ride with them, it's the lottery: you might get a newish car or and old piece of junk that's nowhere near to modern safety standards. Because the cars are shared, drivers also don't give a **** about the car since it's not theirs. How many times have I been riding with drivers who can't keep their hand off their phone or just keep on calling.

    Driving passengers around is not rocket science and an old, uncompetitive market player used to enjoy a monopoly market protected by the government is unlikely going to be able to pick up its game for meeting highly disruptive and innovative entrants like Uber. That boat has sailed I'm afraid!
     
  8. Azazel

    Azazel Well-Known Member

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  9. christos

    christos Active Member

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    Uber isn't going anywhere- hell their ads come up on this post!

    So they are actively spending on advertising - not something you tend to see the taxi industry doing
     
  10. Mombius Hibachi

    Mombius Hibachi Well-Known Member

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    Not guaranteed. I read about them leaving one of the counties in Florida because of pressure from the local taxi company. If the court finds they are illegal, then I don't see how they will be able to continue to operate.

    I mean, common sense tells me that they sussed all that out before setting up, so here's hoping that if they aren't doing anything illegal, the court finds in their favour.
     
  11. Perthguy

    Perthguy Well-Known Member

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    The Western Australian Liberal Government has pledged to support Uber, so they should be able to at least keep operating in WA.

    https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/28667800/barnett-will-not-shut-down-uber/
     

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