What precautions does a Taxibus driver take during Covid?

Australia has enforced strict guidelines for Perth taxi services during the COVID pandemic.  Although social distancing and restricted movement Is the need of the hour, the public still needs to use Perth taxi services. Everyone has to use a taxi bus to visit the public health centres to get vaccinated. Patients have to book a taxi service to go to the hospital for COVID  treatment.  In such situations, the driver of a taxi cab is more at risk as he plies several passengers. He/she must take precautions to ensure that he does not suffer from, or spread COVID

The 10 COVID safety precautions our Perth cab drivers take to protect passengers

Perth taxi services are always in demand during the COVID pandemic. When a person looks for a taxi near me, he wants to travel in a safe and sanitised vehicle. A driver of our  Perth taxis must follow these guidelines to protect himself, his passengers, and his vehicle from COVID.

Physical distancing

The Perth taxi driver must maintain a distance of 1.5 m from his passengers. He must ask them to sit in the back seat and avoid close contact.

Surgical mask

All Perth taxi drivers must wear a surgical mask always during cab trips. They must also insist on the passengers wearing one. They must not accept the ride of a person without a mask.

Sanitisation

Our taxi drivers must use an alcohol-based sanitiser. They must use the sanitiser after opening and closing the doors, lifting luggage, and receiving payments. 

Disinfection

The driver of the Perth taxi must clean the vehicle after each trip with a sanitiser or a disinfectant. He must use isopropyl wipes to clean the upholstery, dashboard, phone, vehicle handles, etc. 

Provide closed bins for waste disposal

Passengers travelling in Perth taxis tend to leave behind their disposable masks, wipes, and other hygiene accessories in the taxi itself. The driver must provide closed bins in the taxi for their safe and hygienic disposal.

Regulate air conditioning

All taxi services Perth has, are fitted with air conditioning. But this AC can circulate the virus too. So, the Perth taxi driver must set the air conditioning to external mode and NOT for recirculation. Or he must keep the windows open. This will prevent the spread of the COVID virus within the vehicle.

Request passengers to handle their own luggage

Perth cab drivers must ask their passengers to handle their own luggage. If the passenger is disabled or elderly,  the driver can assist but with hygiene precautions.

Contactless payments

It is better to opt for contactless payments in any taxi Perth has. The driver must keep the card machine in the back seat of the car. He must clean it after every use.

High-risk contact surfaces should be cleaned often

Every taxi has some high touch point surfaces that are at great risk. These include seats, seat belts, door handles, window controls, boot lids, and payment machines. All these must be disinfected after every trip.

 Use SafeWA app

Our Perth taxi drivers have installed the SafeWA app.  This app is for digital contact registration. Using this, the WA government can do a contact tracing of all passengers travelled in Perth taxis.

Are there any special  COVID guidelines for drivers of taxis in Perth WA?

All of our Perth taxi drivers can now get themselves tested for free through WA’s DETECT borders surveillance program.  They must get tested on a periodic basis as they are exposed to high risk.  

Aussie passengers usually prefer fully- vaccinated drivers. So, our taxi drivers must get vaccinated and submit their vaccination certificates to Taxibus.

All  Taxibus Perth drivers must use the SafeWA app and help the WA government in contact tracing.

While in WA, the safest cab service to use is Taxibus. All Taxi Perth drivers follow and take the most diligent hygiene precautions for their passengers and vehicles.