Financial Support for Taxis and Commercial Passenger Vehicles

Rod Barton MP

• Doubling the wheelchair lifting fee from $20.80 to $41.60 per lift for accessible vehicles

• Increasing the MPTP fund from 50 percent to 70 percent

• Subsidising taxi drivers $250 per month for each active operational taxi CPV vehicle

A Covid19 Safe Industry

• Cleaning and sanitation grants program covering both regional and metro BSPs

• Providing CPVs with a new set of cleaning standards that match both community and driver expectations

Ensuring a viable CPV industry

• Rebating CPV drivers the $1 levy paid from April to June 2020

• $1million fund for regional taxi Booking Service Providers where significant community detriment can be demonstrated without additional government assistance

This is addition to initiatives the government has already made including the pausing of regulatory fees, and the $1500 Coronavirus Worker Support Payment, for drivers who contract the virus or are required to self-isolate.

The Minister for Transport, Ben Carroll, has asked that I continue as a member of the CPV

Panel to identify further opportunities to utilise CPV’s, assist and oversee the implementation and conduct a review of the initiatives in three months. This will complement the already agreed role to implement any government endorsed recommendations from the Inquiry into the Commercial Passenger Vehicle Industry Act 2017 Reforms that was undertaken late last year and due for response by the end of 2020.

I would like to thank the Minister and the Andrews Government for allocating this funding and supporting this package of measures which, to date, is the best and most targeted CPV funding package in Australia.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank the previous Minister for Transport, Melissa

Horne, and the government for forming the panel and for including a non-government Member of Parliament and acknowledge the hard work of the Member for Oakleigh, Steve Dimopoulos and the team supporting the panel.

/Public Release.