Passenger transport driver responsibilities

This section covers information for passenger transport drivers. If you are the owner of your vehicle, please also refer to the Passenger transport vehicles section for information on PTV requirements and authorisation.

Participants in the passenger transport industry are regulated under the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 and associated regulations.

To legally drive passengers for hire and reward, you must have: 

• a passenger transport driver (PTD) authorisation; and
• the correct class of driver’s licence. 

Visit What are passenger transport driver authorisations to find out more information.

To maintain a PTD authorisation, you will need to:

• pay the annual authorisation fees when the PTD authorisation is up for renewal;
• provide a new NPC every five years; and
• undergo a medical assessment on an ongoing basis at an interval dependent on your individual medical assessment (up to five years).

How will I know when to get a medical assessment? 

You will receive a medical assessment notice approximately 12 weeks before your existing medical assessment is due to expire. If you hold a PTD authorisation, you can also view your medical due date in your DoTDirect account. 

You can access the medical assessment certificate form to take to your medical professional through your DoTDirect account. This form will be pre-populated with your details.

Your doctor may submit your completed medical assessment to DoT directly or you may upload a copy via DoTDirect. When DoT receives your new medical it is assessed against the Austroads fitness to drive standards. This may mean that the medical period assigned to you by DoT is different to what your doctor recommends. 

How can I check when my next medical assessment is due? 

If you have a PTD authorisation, there are two ways that you can check when your next medical assessment is due.

1. The PTD authorisation document that DoT emails to you shows your next medical assessment due date. 
    
2. Log into your DoTDirect account and select On-demand Transport at the top of the page, then click "Passenger transport drivers" – details about your PTD authorisation will appear, including your next medical assessment due date.

Alternatively, you can call Department of Transport on 13 11 56 to ask when your next medical assessment is due. 

A chain of accountability framework applies for the passenger transport industry in WA. The Act defines roles for those involved in each level of the industry and sets out their obligations and responsibilities, particularly in relation to the health and safety of passengers, drivers and the public. 

When driving for hire or reward, a passenger transport driver must:

• ensure their own health and safety; 
• ensure that their acts or omissions do not adversely affect the health and safety of others; 
• comply with any reasonable instruction given by an ODBS or PTV provider, to allow them to comply with the Act; and
• cooperate with any reasonable health and safety policy or procedure of the ODBS or PTV provider.

For further information about safety duties, visit the Safety for industry page.

Drivers of on-demand rank or hail (taxi) or on-demand charter passenger transport vehicles (PTVs) are required to have driver identity information that is visible to the hirer at the time of booking or display it in the vehicle/on person. 

These requirements do not apply to drivers for regular passenger transport, tourism passenger transport, community or courtesy services.

When you are granted a PTD authorisation, a new driver's licence card will not be issued.

What to include

On-demand transport driver identity information is different to a driver’s licence.

On-demand charter PTVs (includes rideshare)

For drivers of on-demand charter PTVs who have been granted a PTD authorisation, the driver identity information must contain:

• a photograph of the driver;
• their first name; and 
• the PTD authorisation number. 

These requirements may already be met, for example by driver profiles displayed to customers by app-based booking services. 

See below for example driver identification information for drivers of on-demand charter PTVs.

Unless otherwise exempted, seatbelts and child restraints must be used when travelling in passenger transport vehicles. This includes any vehicle used or intended to be used to provide:

• on-demand charter services;
• on-demand rank or hail services;
• regular passenger transport services; or
• tourism passenger transport services.

Seat belts for drivers

All drivers must wear a seatbelt where fitted unless they are:

• reversing the vehicle; 
• in possession of a medical certificate authorising exemption –  this must be carried with the driver at all time; or 
• a taxi driver carrying one or more paying passengers after dark.

Seat belts for passengers 

The Road Traffic Code 2000 requires:

• children aged 0 to 6 months to be restrained in a rearward facing child restraint (e.g. infant capsule);
• children aged 6 months to under 4 years to be restrained in either a rear-facing or forward-facing child restraint with in-built harness;
• children aged 4 to under 7 years to be restrained in either a forward-facing child restraint or booster seat, restrained by a correctly adjusted and fastened seat belt or child safety harness;
• children aged 7 to 16 years to be restrained either in a booster seat with lap sash seatbelt or a seatbelt.; and
• people over 16 years to be restrained in a seatbelt that is securely and properly fastened.

Children aged under 7 years must not be in the front row of seats, if the vehicle has two or more rows of seats. Children aged between 4 and 7 years can travel in the front seat if all other rear seats are filled with passengers aged under 7yrs.

Passenger transport vehicle driver responsibility for seatbelt wearing of the passengers

Unlike normal drivers, a driver of a passenger transport vehicle (PTV) is not responsible for ensuring that all passengers over 16 years wear a seatbelt.

Drivers of PTVs are also exempt from ensuring passengers under 7 years wear the appropriate child restraint but only if a child restraint is not available in the vehicle.

Where there is no child restraint fitted, PTV drivers must however, ensure that a passenger aged between 1 year and 7 years wears a seatbelt that is properly adjusted and securely fastened to the best extent possible given the height and weight of the child. The child must also not be in the front row of seats if the vehicle has 2 or more rows of seats – penalties apply.

A child restraint is considered available if it is fitted to the vehicle and is not already occupied by someone under the age of 16 years.

Driver fatigue is one of the most significant safety hazards facing the road transport industry world-wide. Crashes are dangerous and costly to all road users, and fatigue is a major contributor.

Fatigue means a gradual loss of alertness that leads to occasional nodding off and then sleep. Fatigue causes drowsy driving. Drowsy drivers are more likely to have a crash by running off the road or having a head-on collision.

Main causes of drowsy driving

The three main causes of drowsy driving are:

1. Not enough sleep.
2. Driving when you would normally be asleep.
3. Working or being awake for very long hours.

Other factors like highway boredom, road conditions and weather compound these causes.

To prevent fatigue related crashes, these factors need to be managed through correct scheduling practices, training and education.

Resources for managing driver fatigue

Driver fatigue is a risk for all drivers and their passengers. For drivers of commercial vehicles (including taxis), it is an occupational hazard which, under occupational safety and health laws, must be managed by a safe system of work.

The Code of Practice: Fatigue management for commercial vehicle drivers (available on the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety website) provides guidance on what a safe system should consider.

The Code provides guidance to industry, the authorities and the courts, and provides a defence against prosecution.

A fatigue management training package for commercial vehicle drivers can also be found on the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) website

While it is ultimately the responsibility of the vehicle owner to maintain the vehicle, as a driver you are responsible for ensuring the vehicle is maintained throughout the duration of your shift. For example, ensuring tyres have adequate air, lights are working and oil level is correct. Any major issues should be reported to your booking service immediately.

See the Department of Transport's Vehicle maintenance checklist page for further information on how to maintain your vehicle.

All authorised passenger transport drivers are required report all notifiable occurrences they become aware of to DoT.

Notifiable occurrences are incidents of a serious nature that involve, or have the potential to result in, injury, violence or abuse of a person.

Notifiable occurrences can be reported through the driver’s DoTDirect account. Visit OdT industry portals to find out more about notifiable occurrences and how to report them to DoT.

Drivers of passenger transport vehicles are required to report notifiable occurrences to DoT as soon as practicable after they become aware of the notifiable occurrence. Failure to comply with this requirement may attract fines of up to $9,000.

On-demand booking services also have a responsibility to report notifiable occurrences to DoT – see Responsibilities for authorised on-demand booking services for further information.

As the driver of an on-demand charter or on-demand rank or hail (taxi) PTV, you may be required to keep the following records under the direction of the on-demand booking service you operate for:

• Booking details (for each job).
  • Booking ID (to identify jobs).
  • Account/Hirer (customer details).
  • Pick-up and destination addresses.
  • Journey start and end time.
  • Pricing (cost of job).
  • Contract/pre-paid fares (for agreed/arranged jobs between operator and customer).
  • Status (job successful/cancelled).
• Vehicle details.
  • Vehicle details (example: insurance, registration etc).
  • Vehicle maintenance program.
• Driver details.
  • Driver's details (name and PTD authorisation number or driver's licence extension and driver's licence status).
  • Fatigue management program.

You can keep these records in electronic or hard copy format.

On-demand booking services (ODBSs) have a legislated responsibility to ensure the health and safety of drivers and passengers and may enforce different protocols to do this during this time. ODBSs should update their safety management systems to ensure they have the necessary steps in place to minimise risk to drivers and passengers. 

Health and safety advice for drivers

To help stay safe, you can ask passengers if they have tested positive for COVID-19 before they get in your vehicle, so you can take extra precautions. 

You are encouraged to:

• stay home if sick and get tested;
• stay up to date with your vaccinations;
• physical distance whenever you can;
• wash or sanitise hands often;
• provide hand sanitiser to passengers;
• clean your vehicle regularly; 
• encourage contactless payment;
• avoid handling passengers’ luggage;
• ask passengers to sit in the back; and
• open windows and set air conditioning to fresh.

For more information, visit the WA Government COVID-19 (coronavirus) website.