Re: 'Shameful' Auckland taxi school lets students cheat

Press Release

RE: 'Shameful' Auckland taxi school lets students cheat | NZNews | Newshub

For the past few years Blue Bubble Taxi Companies have suspected that some Industry Training Providers have been less than rigorous when it comes to the testing of applicants for the local Area Knowledge and P Endorsement tests.

Blue Bubble Taxi Companies have maintained an induction training and testing program for all entrants into the companies regardless of their prior experience. Applicants must pass tests for Area Knowledge, an understanding of their responsibilities as a taxi driver, and an ability to communicate using the English Language.

Aside from providing an acceptable level of customer service Blue Bubble Taxi companies believe that an understanding of the English Language is one of the fundamental skills required by taxi drivers and that the driver’s safety is at risk when they are unable to communicate with their passengers.

There are no suggestions that the “Fit & Proper” Person test carried out by the regulatory authorities has been compromised by the alleged shortcuts of some Taxi Driver Training Schools.

The Blue Bubble Alliance understands the reasons for the Governments amendments to the Transport Act that remove the requirement for Area Knowledge Tests but would have preferred that rather than walking away from the problem that regulatory authorities were given the resource to ensure that integrity of the tests was maintained.

Blue Bubble Taxi Companies will continue to independently train and test all new entrants before they drive one of our taxis. This is for the benefit of both our passengers and our drivers.

Bob Wilkinson

CEO – Blue Bubble Alliance Ltd

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