(From left to right: The Honourable Paul Toole MP – NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads; Paul Shanahan – Marketing Manager, Bathurst Taxis & Martin Rogers – CEO, NSW Taxi Council)
Amidst this challenging period of navigating through the crisis caused by a global pandemic, Bathurst Taxis (also known as Bx Taxis) are on the verge of one of the biggest achievements of the year for the Regional NSW Taxi Industry.
Bathurst Taxis (Bx Taxis) are fast approaching their 4 millionth booking through their innovative tech-based Taxi dispatch platform – Smartmove. In the week commencing 13 July 2020, Bx Taxis will have the great pleasure of transporting their 4 millionth booking.
To acknowledge this wonderful achievement and to show their gratitude towards the community of Bathurst, Bx Taxis have announced the lucky 4 millionth booking customer will win a $400 Cabcharge Gift Card. The announcement was made in Bathurst earlier this week in the presence of Dean Shadbolt – Secretary/Manager of Bathurst Taxis; Paul Shanahan – Marketing Manager, Bathurst Taxis; The Honourable Paul Toole MP – NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads and State Member for Bathurst; Bobby Bourke - Mayor, Bathurst Regional Council; Bill Cumpston – Owner Smartmove Dispatch System and Martin Rogers – CEO, NSW Taxi Council.
Click here to listen to the radio advertisement for the announcement of $400 Cabcharge Gift Card for the 4 millionth booking by Bx Taxis.
To be able to achieve 4 Million bookings utilising a tech-based Taxi dispatch system used in Bathurst, for a regional NSW town with a population of 40,000, is a fantastic outcome. Considering that an average Taxi trip is around five kilometres in Bathurst, four million trips would be equivalent to twenty million kilometres in Taxi travel. This means that Taxis in Bathurst have served the community of the town and provided transport services equal to travelling to the moon and back twenty-six times.
On the occasion of this wonderful achievement, Dean Shadbolt – Secretary/Manager, Bathurst Taxis said “It’s a great feeling! It’s mind boggling when I think about it for a regional town with a population of 40,000 people. I would like to acknowledge and thank all of the Taxi Operators in the region, the people of the Bathurst Community, the support from the Bathurst Regional Council and our Local member of Parliament – The Honourable, Paul Toole. It has been a gradual process of different modifications to the hardware and software used for booking by Bx Taxis with the focus being on adapting technology and changing the services as per the needs of the customers in Bathurst. Bx Taxis is the only form of public transport available after hours and on the weekends for the Bathurst community. We are always looking at ways to try and improve the service to attract more customers and hence keep Taxis viable in the region."
The Honourable Paul Toole MP – NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads and State Member for Bathurst further added “Taxis are an absolutely essential service in Regional and rural NSW and are the only form of public transport service available to the people in some towns to move around for essential purposes. 4 million customers is a huge achievement by Bx Taxis. Technology being used by the Taxi drivers and passengers in Regional and Rural NSW is a great testament to the work they do in these regions. These are the men and women of our community, who are a part of our community and it’s important for us to support them locally."
In the past, Taxis have been perceived to be lagging when it comes to adapting technology in Regional NSW. This perception seems to be very contrary to the reality looking at the achievement of Bathurst Taxis, who have been in partnership for the past 15 years with SmartMove – an Australian Owned Taxi dispatch solutions provider. Bx Taxis and Smartmove have worked together in Bathurst and provided Taxi services in a regional town equivalent to the capabilities that the larger Taxi service providers have in the city. During the announcement, Bill Cumpston from Smartmove said, “Bx Taxis are one of the three Taxi companies who recognised the benefit of the mobile phone network for a Taxi dispatching system early, along with Orange and Dubbo being the other two fleets. Bx Taxis are the leaders in Regional and rural NSW for adapting technology and innovating continuously to adapt to the changing needs of the region”. This is a great example of a battle between perception and reality, where reality wins and hence the regional NSW Taxi Industry here, exemplified by Bx Taxis and the people of Bathurst.
(latest hardware iteration of Bx Taxis)
Bathurst Taxis have been at the forefront of ‘Innovation for customers’ in Regional and rural NSW. Bathurst Taxis is a Co-operative run by its 21 members, which aims to provide quality, reliable and safe Taxi services 24/7/365, considering the needs of each passenger, in safe, clean and comfortable vehicles with well-trained and courteous drivers in Bathurst. They also provide a takeaway meal delivery service i.e. Taxi Tucker, where a Bathurst Taxi picks up and delivers your meal to your door. The bookings for the services can be made online, via their mobile booking app and by phone utilising SmartMove.
SmartMove is a proudly Australian owned and operated Taxi dispatch solutions provider which is used in over 100 Taxi fleets in Australia and New Zealand. It provides a robust dispatch software and hardware for Taxi fleets, which has features like advanced technology, comprehensive reporting, 24/7 support, improved productivity and ideal for a call centre. It is an extremely popular technology-based Taxi dispatch system in the Regional NSW Taxi Industry.
Radio Interviews of Paul Shanahan - Marketing Manager, Bathurst Taxis on the wonderful achievement by Bx Taxis:
Click here to listen to the interview given on 2BS Radio
Click here to listen to the interview given on Brock Radio