Let us take taxis to task
BENNIE BOBEJÉ WRITES:
The public transportation sector has become financially and safety-wise burdensome and worrisome to members of the public.
Taxi operators increasingly employ tactics of self-entitlement to unethically manipulate and exploit the system in order to benefit unfairly from it. Cab drivers exploit passengers and tourists by charging unreasonable and at times exorbitant taxi fares.
They have the Namibian public transportation-using public in their hands, so much so that we must dance to their tunes. They have the misconception that only we need them for their services, forgetting that we as users pay them for their unreasonable, low quality and unsafe services.
In the end, even government, the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (NABTA) and unions side ignorantly with these exploiters in the midst of a dire and crippled Namibian economy. Taxi fares do not reflect the increment and decrement of fuel prices and inflation.
Consider the fact that taxi fares increase (inconsistently) when fuel prices increase, but remain the same when the fuel price decreases and increase the next time.
Cab drivers also charge double for very short distances from taxi ranks to schools, hospitals, clinics and old-age homes, which is unfair. And to make it worse, they redouble that amount from 12pm to 6am. Why must we pay an extra N$12.00 during the day and N$24.00 at night for a mere 50 to 500m from the taxi rank?
Taxi fares in Namibian towns are the same as that of Windhoek, which is unfair considering the much smaller physical sizes of these towns and shorter distances in them compared to Windhoek.
And apart from these unfair prices Namibians sometimes pay with their lives as Namibian cabs, in general, have increasingly become unsafe, unreliable and disgraceful. A large number of taxis also operate without taxi licenses and public driver’s permits.
In the meantime, they demand for traffic penalty fees to be reduced. What for? To keep on gambling with our lives? We say no more!
Long distance taxi drivers refuse to drop their passengers off at home even at night and charge them an extra fee in municipal areas as if they have the license to do so.
OUR DEMANDS
As cash-paying taxi customers we demand that:
• All public schools, hospitals, clinics, registered religious institutions and old-age homes be declared as taxi ranks up to which the normal fare is charged, that is N$12.00 during daytime.
• After 12pm to 6am cab fees must be decreased to N$15.00.
• Senior citizens and children under the age of six must pay N$10.00 during the day and N$12.00 from 12pm to 6am.
• Taxi fees in Namibian towns must be reduced in relation to the size of the town and distances traveled. These should be N$10.00 during the day and N$12.00 from 12pm to 6am.
• Increments and decrements in taxi fares must coincide with and reflect fluctuations in fuel prices.
• Taxi drivers must treat passengers with dignity and respect and keep their safety and health in high esteem.
• Long-distance taxi drivers must drop their passengers at the taxi rank closest to their respective homes at night without an extra charge.
All taxi users and the family members, friends, colleagues and supporters of cab users are invited to support this petition by logging on to https://www.change.org/p/namibia-bus-and-taxi-assoaciation-declare-public-schools-hospitals-clinics-and-old-age-homes-as-taxi-ranks and completing a short form and signing the petition there, which will reach targeted authorities and media houses by means of emails every time someone does so.
Together we say NO to unfair taxi fares, NO to unfair taxi price increments, NO to incongruent and unrealistic cab fares, and NO to rude and inconsiderate cab drivers and unsafe taxis! Together we will change the taxi situation in our favour as it ought to be.
The public transportation sector has become financially and safety-wise burdensome and worrisome to members of the public.
Taxi operators increasingly employ tactics of self-entitlement to unethically manipulate and exploit the system in order to benefit unfairly from it. Cab drivers exploit passengers and tourists by charging unreasonable and at times exorbitant taxi fares.
They have the Namibian public transportation-using public in their hands, so much so that we must dance to their tunes. They have the misconception that only we need them for their services, forgetting that we as users pay them for their unreasonable, low quality and unsafe services.
In the end, even government, the Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (NABTA) and unions side ignorantly with these exploiters in the midst of a dire and crippled Namibian economy. Taxi fares do not reflect the increment and decrement of fuel prices and inflation.
Consider the fact that taxi fares increase (inconsistently) when fuel prices increase, but remain the same when the fuel price decreases and increase the next time.
Cab drivers also charge double for very short distances from taxi ranks to schools, hospitals, clinics and old-age homes, which is unfair. And to make it worse, they redouble that amount from 12pm to 6am. Why must we pay an extra N$12.00 during the day and N$24.00 at night for a mere 50 to 500m from the taxi rank?
Taxi fares in Namibian towns are the same as that of Windhoek, which is unfair considering the much smaller physical sizes of these towns and shorter distances in them compared to Windhoek.
And apart from these unfair prices Namibians sometimes pay with their lives as Namibian cabs, in general, have increasingly become unsafe, unreliable and disgraceful. A large number of taxis also operate without taxi licenses and public driver’s permits.
In the meantime, they demand for traffic penalty fees to be reduced. What for? To keep on gambling with our lives? We say no more!
Long distance taxi drivers refuse to drop their passengers off at home even at night and charge them an extra fee in municipal areas as if they have the license to do so.
OUR DEMANDS
As cash-paying taxi customers we demand that:
• All public schools, hospitals, clinics, registered religious institutions and old-age homes be declared as taxi ranks up to which the normal fare is charged, that is N$12.00 during daytime.
• After 12pm to 6am cab fees must be decreased to N$15.00.
• Senior citizens and children under the age of six must pay N$10.00 during the day and N$12.00 from 12pm to 6am.
• Taxi fees in Namibian towns must be reduced in relation to the size of the town and distances traveled. These should be N$10.00 during the day and N$12.00 from 12pm to 6am.
• Increments and decrements in taxi fares must coincide with and reflect fluctuations in fuel prices.
• Taxi drivers must treat passengers with dignity and respect and keep their safety and health in high esteem.
• Long-distance taxi drivers must drop their passengers at the taxi rank closest to their respective homes at night without an extra charge.
All taxi users and the family members, friends, colleagues and supporters of cab users are invited to support this petition by logging on to https://www.change.org/p/namibia-bus-and-taxi-assoaciation-declare-public-schools-hospitals-clinics-and-old-age-homes-as-taxi-ranks and completing a short form and signing the petition there, which will reach targeted authorities and media houses by means of emails every time someone does so.
Together we say NO to unfair taxi fares, NO to unfair taxi price increments, NO to incongruent and unrealistic cab fares, and NO to rude and inconsiderate cab drivers and unsafe taxis! Together we will change the taxi situation in our favour as it ought to be.
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