What is On-demand transport?

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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