Tullamarine firm ready for business
Laura Banks
05May08
Brendan Hart expects business to boom.
A TULLAMARINE taxi-parts manufacturer is expecting a boom in business in the wake of the taxi driver protest which brought Melbourne's CBD to a standstill.
Martin Meters, in Trade Park Drive, is Australia's only manufacturer of taxi safety screens.
Taxi drivers massed in front of Spencer St railway station following the stabbing of a fellow driver in Clifton Hill on Tuesday.
The drivers called for a series of measures to make their often dangerous jobs safer.
By Wednesday afternoon the State Government announced it would cover half the cost of the $1300 screens.
Taxi operators would cover the rest. And pre-paid fares will become mandatory at night.
Martin Meters managing director Brendan Hart said the announcement would be a boon for the company.
Taxi operators often balked at the price tag for the polycarbonate and steel screens.
"We would certainly have to take on more people to gear up for more orders," he said.
Mr Hart said that, despite the protests, there was not universal support for the screens.
"The drivers themselves are split 50-50," he said. "About 80 per cent of day drivers do not think they need the screens, but 80 per cent of night drivers want them."
The company has supplied about 1500 screens to taxis in NSW.
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