One in four taxi drivers at Melbourne Airport fined for refusing short trips

An undercover sting has found “one in four” taxi drivers at Melbourne Airport are refusing passengers who only ask to be taken a short distance.

Faulkner Highway Patrol Sgt Dean Pickering told Tom Elliott plain clothes police posed as passengers last Friday, and received some pretty hostile responses from some drivers.

“Initially maybe one in four, one in five, refused us then the grape vine worked wonders and we had full compliance,” Sgt Pickering said.

“We were actually getting refused and abused in some cases.”

Police handed out $396 fines to 15-20 drivers.

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