New rank an improvement

By CASEY NEILL
DANDENONG taxi drivers are waiting to see if the relocated Dandenong railway station taxi rank will boost their safety, but have concerns about how it will operate.
Dandenong Taxis owner Paul Smith said the rank was recently relocated to Foster Street, where CCTV cameras had been installed.
“It’s an improvement,” he said.
“The old rank had no footage.”
Mr Smith said the former location was near the bus interchange, under the road, and was a congregation point for youths.
“That did concern us,” he said.
“Especially at night, sitting waiting for passengers.”
But Mr Smith said passengers now had further to walk from the train station and he was concerned about how passengers with disabilities would cope.
He was also concerned that there was limited space to safely drop off passengers. The old taxi rank had eight parking spots but there are now only four, and he said a bus often restricted cab access to the final parking spot.
Mr Smith said any money to provide more safety for drivers was a good thing, and welcomed new $4 million Taxi Rank Safety Program funding round.
South Eastern Metropolitan Region MP Gordon Rich-Phillips encouraged City of Greater Dandenong to apply for cash to improve lighting, signage, or install closed circuit television.
“The grants can also be used for a range of other works including road and footpath upgrade at taxi ranks to improve access for passengers with disabilities,” Mr Rich-Phillips said.
Applications close on Friday 16 November.