State of the industry
Find out the latest passenger transport industry statistics, including on-demand booking service and passenger transport vehicle authorisation totals.
Authorisation data on this page is current at the end of each financial quarter reported.
If you require any information that is not featured on this page, please contact On-demand Transport to discuss your data needs.
On-demand transport in WA: passenger research insights
In September 2023, Painted Dog Research conducted research for the Department of Transport (DoT), to measure:
- how people use on-demand transport in WA; and
- how they feel about it.
Understanding more about passenger behaviour and sentiment will:
- help the Department of Transport (DoT) when we develop future regulations, as well as informing our communications and educational messaging; and
- support industry to provide services in line with customer wants and expectations.
Methodology
Over 1,000 people in the Perth metropolitan area and almost 350 regional residents completed a survey. After this, small focus groups were conducted to further explore the survey findings.
Note: in this research, on-demand transport was defined as including:
- any conventional taxi;
- a wheelchair accessible taxi;
- any rideshare service;
- a charter vehicle service (e.g. private airport transfers);
- any limousine service;
- any charter bus service (e.g. school excursions, mining company transport); and
- any party bus.
Key findings
- In the last 12 months:
- 71% of Perth metropolitan residents have used on-demand transport; and
- 50% of regional residents have used on-demand transport.
- 1 in 2 people use on-demand transport to get to or from bars, restaurants or social outings.
- According to passengers, the three most important things for providers to get right are reliability, pricing and driver skills.
- At least 8 in 10 passengers are satisfied with their most recent on-demand transport experience.
- Passengers think the best thing about on-demand transport is convenience, while cancelled trips are the worst.
- Safety is very important to passengers. Their most important safety features are:
- police checks for drivers;
- GPS tracking for their trips; and
- camera surveillance in the vehicle.
On-demand booking services
777
Total active on-demand booking service (ODBS) authorisations at the end of the June 2024 financial quarter.
End of financial quarter | Total active ODBS authorisations |
---|---|
September 2024 | 800 |
June 2024 | 778 |
March 2024 | 776 |
December 2023 | 783 |
September 2023 | 754 |
June 2023 | 734 |
March 2023 | 714 |
December 2022 | 722 |
September 2022 | 706 |
June 2022 | 695 |
March 2022 | 768 |
December 2021 | 814 |
September 2021 | 817 |
June 2021 | 850 |
March 2021 | 888 |
December 2020 | 882 |
September 2020 | 872 |
June 2020 | 840 |
March 2020 | 831 |
December 2019 | 857 |
September 2019 | 821 |
June 2019 | 730 |
March 2019 | 309 |
Regular passenger transport service providers
15
Total authorised regular passenger transport (RPT) service providers at the end of the June 2024 financial quarter.
Passenger transport vehicles
Number of authorised passenger transport vehicles
Passenger transport vehicles (PTVs) can be authorised in multiple categories, including:
- on-demand rank or hail;
- on-demand charter;
- tourism passenger transport (TPT); and
- regular passenger transport (RPT).
Therefore when reading the below data, please be aware that the total number of authorised PTVs is not equal to the sum of all categories.
25,548
Total active PTV authorisations at the end of the September 2024 financial quarter.
End of financial quarter | Rank or hail | Charter | TPT | RPT | Rank or hail WAV* | Total active PTV authorisations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
September 2024 | 2,463 | 22,604 | 5,912 | 4,650 | 226 | 25,548 |
June 2024 | 2,460 | 22,008 | 5,805 | 4,414 | 222 | 24,941 |
March 2024 | 2,449 | 21,137 | 5,756 | 4,192 | 217 | 24,012 |
December 2023 | 2,470 | 20,182 | 5,698 | 3,995 | 212 | 23,094 |
September 2023 | 2,505 | 18,887 | 5,576 | 3,760 | 201 | 21,807 |
June 2023 | 2,488 | 18,093 | 5,624 | 3,597 | 193 | 20,958 |
March 2023 | 2,357 | 16,893 | 5,553 | 3,398 | 189 | 19,622 |
December 2022 | 2,284 | 15,856 | 5,543 | 3,200 | 184 | 18,494 |
September 2022 | 2,196 | 14,743 | 5,642 | 3,060 | 180 | 17,310 |
June 2022 | 2,122 | 14,219 | 5,773 | 2,874 | 175 | 16,676 |
March 2022 | 2,172 | 14,127 | 6,026 | 2,789 | 172 | 16,600 |
December 2021 | 2,236 | 14,881 | 6,487 | 2,825 | 168 | 17,400 |
September 2021 | 2,272 | 15,078 | 6,952 | 2,765 | 167 | 17,621 |
June 2021 | 2,273 | 15,652 | 7,641 | 2,799 | 167 | 18,185 |
March 2021 | 2,268 | 16,060 | 8,270 | 2,744 | 166 | 18,557 |
December 2020 | 2,312 | 16,463 | 8,877 | 2,683 | 164 | 18,977 |
September 2020 | 2,397 | 16,013 | 9,308 | 2,565 | 164 | 18,613 |
June 2020 | 2,444 | 15,903 | 10,055 | 2,436 | 164 | 18,532 |
March 2020 | 2,580 | 16,197 | 10,993 | 2,250 | 167 | 18,956 |
December 2019 | 2,515 | 16,284 | 12,512 | 2,200 | 166 | 18,930 |
September 2019 | 2,313 | 15,497 | 13,529 | 1,914 | 144 | 17,878 |
* Wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs) are vehicles that meet specific safety and accessibility standards, including the installation of a ramp or hoist, and appropriate wheelchair restraints. Only WAVs with a rank or hail category of PTV authorisation can access the Taxi User Subsidy Scheme (TUSS) in WA.
Passenger transport drivers
Number of authorised passenger transport drivers
41,442
Total active passenger transport driver (PTD) authorisations at the end of the September 2024 financial quarter.
End of financial quarter | Total active PTD authorisation |
---|---|
September 2024 | 41,442 |
June 2024 | 40,411 |
March 2024 | 39,235 |
December 2023 | 38,558 |
September 2023 | 37,299 |
June 2023 | 36,092 |
March 2023 | 34,735 |
December 2022 | 34,037 |
September 2022 | 32,824 |
June 2022 | 31,885 |
March 2022 | 31,485 |
December 2021 | 31,253 |
September 2021 | 29,628 |
June 2021 | 24,338 |
March 2021 | 17,660 |
December 2020 | 13,071 |
September 2020 | 7,513 |
Notifiable occurrences and alleged driver conduct reports
A notifiable occurrence is an incident of a serious nature that involves, or has the potential to result in injury, violence or abuse of a person. On-demand booking services (ODBSs) are required to submit details of notifiable occurrences to the Department of Transport (DoT) as soon as is practicable.
An alleged driver conduct report is a report made by an authorised ODBS to notify DoT of allegations that a driver of an on-demand passenger transport vehicle was engaged in conduct that would affect the driver’s suitability to drive in the on-demand transport industry. Alleged driver conduct reports must be made within 48 hours of the ODBS becoming aware of the alleged conduct.
The below information reflects reports received for incidents that occurred from 1 July 2019 onwards.
Visit On-demand transport industry portals for more information about notifiable occurrences and alleged driver conduct reports.
Please note: the incident numbers reported below may not be fully reflective of all incidents that have occurred, as DoT’s data relies on reports to be received from ODBSs.
2024
Category | March 2024 | June 2024 | September 2024 | Total per category |
---|---|---|---|---|
Camera misuse | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal complaint | 6 | 8 | 1 | 15 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal charge | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Driver Conduct: Other | 53 | 58 | 56 | 167 |
Mechanical Failure | 5 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
Passenger Conduct: Criminal complaint | 29 | 31 | 32 | 92 |
Vehicle Accident: Minor | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
Vehicle Accident: Moderate | 50 | 83 | 104 | 237 |
Vehicle Accident: Serious | 15 | 21 | 22 | 58 |
Total per quarter | 160 | 209 | 225 | 594 |
2023
Category | March 2023 | June 2023 | September 2023 | December 2023 | Total per category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camera misuse | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal complaint | 8 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 21 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal charge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Driver Conduct: Other | 55 | 45 | 72 | 57 | 229 |
Mechanical Failure | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
Passenger Conduct: Criminal complaint | 20 | 28 | 14 | 23 | 85 |
Vehicle Accident: Minor | 5 | 7 | 6 | 9 | 27 |
Vehicle Accident: Moderate | 65 | 81 | 60 | 53 | 259 |
Vehicle Accident: Serious | 9 | 7 | 14 | 17 | 47 |
Total per quarter | 164 | 177 | 167 | 168 | 676 |
2022
Category | March 2022 | June 2022 | September 2022 | December 2022 | Total per category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camera misuse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal complaint | 7 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 31 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal charge | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Driver Conduct: Other | 75 | 59 | 66 | 65 | 265 |
Mechanical Failure | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
Passenger Conduct: Criminal complaint | 39 | 25 | 34 | 25 | 123 |
Vehicle Accident: Minor | 24 | 25 | 11 | 8 | 68 |
Vehicle Accident: Moderate | 41 | 64 | 60 | 40 | 205 |
Vehicle Accident: Serious | 11 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 44 |
Total per quarter | 200 | 198 | 193 | 151 | 742 |
2021
Category | March 2021 | June 2021 | September 2021 | December 2021 | Total per category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camera misuse | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal complaint | 11 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 45 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal charge | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Driver Conduct: Other | 70 | 78 | 74 | 84 | 306 |
Mechanical Failure | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
Passenger Conduct: Criminal complaint | 41 | 35 | 31 | 46 | 153 |
Vehicle Accident: Minor | 5 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 26 |
Vehicle Accident: Moderate | 10 | 18 | 8 | 13 | 49 |
Vehicle Accident: Serious | 49 | 50 | 54 | 75 | 228 |
Total per quarter | 187 | 195 | 192 | 245 | 819 |
2020
Category | March 2020 | June 2020 | September 2020 | December 2020 | Total per category |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Camera misuse | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal complaint | 7 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 25 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal charge | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Driver Conduct: Other | 20 | 21 | 20 | 40 | 101 |
Mechanical Failure | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
Passenger Conduct: Criminal complaint | 18 | 14 | 30 | 44 | 106 |
Vehicle Accident: Minor | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 22 |
Vehicle Accident: Moderate | 13 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 35 |
Vehicle Accident: Serious | 31 | 10 | 36 | 47 | 124 |
Total per quarter | 97 | 58 | 109 | 165 | 429 |
2019
Category | September 2019 | December 2019 | Total per category |
---|---|---|---|
Camera misuse | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal complaint | 11 | 3 | 14 |
Driver Conduct: Criminal charge | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Driver Conduct: Other | 22 | 23 | 45 |
Mechanical Failure | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Passenger Conduct: Criminal complaint | 12 | 11 | 23 |
Vehicle Accident: Minor | 9 | 9 | 18 |
Vehicle Accident: Moderate | 11 | 5 | 16 |
Vehicle Accident: Serious | 35 | 32 | 67 |
Total per quarter | 103 | 83 | 186 |