Passenger Transport Newsletter #90 – February 2025

To support industry, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (the Department) publishes a quarterly newsletter on key topics for the Point-to-Point industry.

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Centralised Booking Services are encouraged to forward this email onto drivers and operators.

In this issue:

• Increases to taxi fares and Adelaide Airport Service Fee
• Taxi-meter regulations
• Ban lifted on left-hand drive vehicles

Increases to Adelaide Airport Service Fee and taxi fares

From 3 February 2025, metropolitan taxi fares and the Adelaide Airport Service Fee will increase.

The Adelaide Airport service fee for taxi and rideshare journeys that start at the Adelaide Airport taxi rank and designated rideshare pickup area will increase from $3.00 to $4.50. Of this total, $4.00 will go to Adelaide Airport and $0.50 will fund previously announced industry reform initiatives administered by the State Government.

The change will apply to

• all metropolitan taxi and rideshare services
• pick-ups from the airport (not drop-offs).

This is the first increase to the Adelaide Airport service fee in more than seven years.

The taxi fares increase is in line with the 2024-2025 State Budget indexation rate of 3%. This also supports the Passenger Transport Act Review recommendation to index fares annually.

Flagfall charges will remain the same with no changes.

For taxis, updated stickers are available from your Centralised Booking Service. They must be installed in all metropolitan taxis on or before 3 February 2025.

The country taxi fares not exceeding the metro rates by more than 20% are permitted through a determination signed by the Minister.

Country Taxi Operators may request an increase to their approved taxi fares by contacting Accreditation and Licensing and submitting an updated MR1670 Notice of Country Taxi Fares application.

Learn more about the updated taxi fares and charges

Taxi-meter regulations

We'd like to remind taxi drivers that inappropriate use of taxi-meters and price gouging is prohibited.

To comply with the Passenger Transport Regulations 2024 (the Regulations), a taxi driver must:

• Have a taxi-meter that complies with the Regulations fitted to their vehicle.
• Activate the taxi‑meter at or after the start of a journey. It is illegal for drivers to refuse to turn on their taxi-meters. This can be when the passenger is ready to leave or at the booked time. This includes bookings with a set or contracted fare through the taxi CBS.
• Not ask passengers to pay a lifting fee.
• Only charge a passenger the legal fare or less.

Set or contracted fares booked through a CBS are calculated on the metered fare rates and may include a booking fee. A booking fee may be legally added by a CBS to fares booked through that CBS.

A driver may require a passenger to pay a deposit, or the estimated fare, in advance if they believe that the legal fare will not be paid at the end of the trip. In this situation, the meter must still be activated.

If the estimated fare is more than the fare displayed on the meter the balance must be refunded to the passenger immediately at the end of the trip.

If a driver demands payment from a passenger and has not activated the meter, it may be considered as an overcharge or charging more than the legal fare. This is an offence under the Regulations.

Ban lifted on left-hand drive vehicles

If you have a left-hand drive vehicle you can now use it to provide a passenger transport service.

As recommended in the Passenger Transport Act Review, the South Australian Government has amended the Regulations to remove the ban on left-hand drive vehicles providing passenger transport services.

Vehicle age, vehicle standard and registration requirements for left hand drive vehicles continue to apply. In particular, you must still hold an exemption under the Road Traffic (Light Vehicle Standards) Rules 2018. There are two exemptions available in South Australia:

Learn more about standards for left hand drive vehicles.