What is On-demand transport?

On-demand transport is the transport of passengers for hire or reward where the passenger or hirer determines the locations for the beginning and end of the journey, as well as the time of travel.

  What does 'hire or reward' mean?

You are driving for hire or reward if:

  • the passengers or hirers of the vehicle have paid, or are required to pay, an amount to use the service; or 
  • you get paid to drive the vehicle as a primary part of your job, even if the passengers aren’t paying for the service; or
  • you get paid directly by the passengers for the service.

If you are driving in a volunteer capacity (not paid or otherwise rewarded) and neither the passengers or hirer have paid in any way, then you are not likely to be driving for hire or reward.

If you are driving in a volunteer capacity and the amount being paid by the passengers only covers the running costs of the vehicle, prescribed at 72 cents per kilometre, in most cases this will also be considered as not for hire or reward.

Hire or reward also includes transport that is provided for free to the passenger but with a view to gaining or maintaining future customers – for example, a promotional free ride offered to new or existing customers to encourage loyalty to a service.

If you’re trying to figure out if your work counts as hire or reward, visit What are passenger transport driver authorisations for further details.

Opens in a new window Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018
Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020

  What is the difference between passenger transport and on-demand transport?

Passenger transport is the transport of passengers by a vehicle for hire or reward - on-demand transport is one type of passenger transport.

On-demand transport includes a service which provides a passenger with flexibility around the route they take and the time they travel. This includes:

  • Taxis.
  • App-based booking service providers.
  • Limousines.
  • Charter buses or vehicles (for example, private airport transfers).
  • Contracted buses or vehicles (for example, by mining companies).
  • Party buses (for example, hens'/bucks' nights or pub crawls).
  • Hired buses (for example, educational excursions).

On-demand transport can be booked well in advance or for immediate departure.

  Other types of passenger transport

There are other types of passenger transport which are not on-demand:

  • Tourism passenger transport is the transport of tourists for hire and reward to a destination listed on advertised publicly available tour itinerary.
  • Regular passenger transport is the transport of passengers for hire and reward that is conducted according to regular routes and timetables. 

While these types of passenger transport are not on-demand transport, the vehicles and drivers involved in tourism and regular passenger transport are regulated by the On-demand Transport business unit at the Department of Transport.

There are also types of passenger transport services that are not primarily established with a view to profit or commercial gain – community and courtesy transport:

  • Community transport is the transport of passengers undertaken by a not-for-profit service whose purpose is to improve the community they service. For example, a local government service transporting seniors to appointments, shopping or events.
  • Courtesy transport is transport provided to a customer, where the transport is additional to the primary service provided. No profit is taken by the provider as a result of the courtesy transport service. For example, a courtesy car for a car repair service.

The On-demand Transport business unit at the Department of Transport (DoT) oversees the passenger transport industry to ensure public safety standards are met. 

  Passenger transport subsidies

The On-demand Transport business unit at DoT administers a range of travel subsidy schemes.

Taxi User Subsidy Scheme

The Taxi User Subsidy Scheme (TUSS) is a subsidy of up to 75% per trip, available to certain eligible people with disability travelling in an on-demand rank or hail (taxi) vehicle. 

Student Subsidised Travel Scheme

The Student Travel Subsidy Scheme provides travel assistance to eligible full-time enrolled school and tertiary students who live in Western Australia to overcome geographical isolation from schools and other educational institutions.

Pensioner Annual Free Trip Scheme

The Pensioner Annual Free Trip Scheme entitles pensioners who live north of the 26th parallel to one return journey by air or coach per year to Perth or elsewhere in the South West Land Division (provided the fare is not greater than that to Perth). 

Other transport-related subsidies administered by different government departments may be available to you – you can find a full list at ConcessionsWA.

ConcessionsWA

  Glossary of common on-demand transport terms

Below is a guide to common terminology and acronyms used when referring to the on-demand transport industry in WA. 

Term  Definition
Charter service

An on-demand passenger transport service that does not include a rank or hail service.

See ‘Rank or hail (taxi)’ below for more information about rank or hail services.

Charter vehicle A vehicle with a passenger transport vehicle (PTV) authorisation in the on-demand charter (OD-C) category.

See ‘Passenger transport vehicle (PTV) authorisation' below for more information about PTV categories.
Community passenger transport
The transport of passengers undertaken by a not-for-profit service whose purpose is to improve the community they service.

For example, a local government service transporting seniors to appointments, shopping or events.
Courtesy passenger transport

Transport provided to a customer, where the transport is additional to the primary service provided. No profit is taken by the provider as a result of the courtesy transport service.
For example, a courtesy car for a car repair service.

ICWA Insurance Commission of Western Australia.
Motor injury insurance (MII) Vehicle owners pay a motor injury insurance premium to cover the cost of injury that they or their vehicles may cause in a crash.
On-demand booking service (ODBS) A provider who takes or communicates passenger requests for an on-demand trip and connects the customer with a vehicle and driver; or a driver who makes arrangements directly with the passenger for an on-demand trip.
On-demand booking service (ODBS) authorisation The authorisation issued to provide an on-demand booking service. A list of authorised on-demand booking service providers is available – you can search by authorisation number, booking service name or other business names.
On-demand passenger transport levy (the Levy) The Levy was 10% of every on-demand fare to a maximum of $10 per trip, but has now ended. The Levy applied to on-demand trips in vehicles that seat 12 or less people (including driver) that start and finish in the Perth, Mandurah or Murray areas. It is expected the Levy would apply for approximately four years, but concluded on 31 May 2022, 11 months ahead of schedule.
On-demand transport Transport of passengers for hire or reward where the passenger or hirer determines the locations for the beginning and end of the journey, as well as the time of travel.
On-demand Transport (OdT) This acronym refers to the DoT business unit, not the industry in general.
Passenger transport driver (PTD) authorisation An authorisation for a person who drives a vehicle for the purpose of transporting passengers for hire or reward. The passenger transport driver (PTD) authorisation was introduced on 1 July 2020, replacing F and T extensions.
Passenger transport service
 
Passenger transport is the transport of passengers by a vehicle for hire or reward.

Passenger transport services include on-demand, tourism, regular or other prescribed passenger transport services.
Passenger transport vehicle A vehicle used or intended to be used in providing a passenger transport service.
Passenger transport vehicle (PTV) authorisation

An authorisation to operate a vehicle to provide a passenger transport service. This has replaced owned and leased taxi plates, country taxi licences, charter vehicle licences and regular passenger transport omnibus licences.

There are four categories of passenger transport vehicle (PTV) authorisation:

  • On-demand rank or hail (OD-RH) = a PTV authorisation of the on-demand rank or hail category.
    Vehicles with a PTV authorisation OD-RH can ply or tout for hire on a road or in another place accessible to the public. This means they can offer trips to people on the side of the road or within a public space.
     
  • On-demand charter (OD-C) = a PTV authorisation of the on-demand charter category.
    Vehicles with a PTV authorisation OD-C can take on-demand trips that do not include a rank or hail service (i.e. charter trips).
     
  • Regular passenger transport (RPT) = a PTV authorisation of the regular passenger transport category.
    See ‘Regular passenger transport’ below for more information.
     
  • Tourism passenger transport (TPT) = a PTV authorisation of the tourism passenger transport category.
    See ‘Tourism passenger transport’ below for more information.
Rank or hail (taxi) service A rank or hail service is an on-demand passenger transport service under which a person can hail or hire an on-demand vehicle while it is standing, plying or touting for hire on a road or in another place accessible to the public. This means they can offer trips to people on the side of the road or within a public space.
Rank or hail PTV (taxi)

A vehicle with a PTV authorisation in the on-demand rank or hail (OD-RH) category.

See ‘Passenger transport vehicle (PTV) authorisations’ above for more information about PTV categories.

Regular passenger transport (RPT) The transport of passengers for hire and reward that is conducted according to regular routes and timetables.
Regular passenger transport service authorisation (RPTS authorisation) An authorisation to provide a regular passenger transport service.
Safety duties and safety standards The Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 outlines a range of safety duties and safety standards for passenger transport services, including the development and maintenance of a safety management system.
Safety management system (SMS) A set of policies, procedures and plans that systematically manage health and safety at work by identifying safety risks and putting in place steps to mitigate them.
Tourism passenger transport (TPT) The transport of passengers (tourists) for hire or reward to destinations listed on a publicly available tour itinerary, for the purposes of tourism.
Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 (the Act) The Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018 provides for the regulation of the road passenger transport industry in WA. It replaces the Taxi Act 1994 and Taxi Drivers Licensing Act 2014, and amends the Transport Coordination Act 1966 in relation to omnibus and country taxi-car licences.
Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020 (the Regulations) The Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020 support the application and enforcement of the Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018.
Voluntary buyback for taxi plate owners (the buyback)
 

The buyback offered eligible owners and former owners of metropolitan taxi plates the opportunity to sell their plates back to the WA government.  The buyback is funded through the On-demand Passenger Transport Levy

See On-demand passenger transport levy (the Levy) for more information.

The estimated value of the buyback varied according to each plate owner's particular circumstances, including how long they owned the plate, the original price paid for it and how much the plate earned over time. The minimum offer for a metropolitan Conventional plate (minus Hardship Fund and outstanding fees) was $100,000.

Insurance Commission of Western Australia (ICWA) website
Opens in a new window Transport (Road Passenger Services) Act 2018
Transport (Road Passenger Services) Regulations 2020
Page last updated: Mon Jan 30 2023 10:28:51 AM