A Victorian taxi company completed its longest fare ever this month when a customer booked a 500-kilometre journey to Wagga Wagga in the New South Wales Riverina region.
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The cross-border trip was completed on November 14 and Ballarat Eureka Taxis driver Matthew Matters had to stay the night in Wagga due to driver fatigue laws and safety requirements.
The company's operations director Vivienne Wilson said the fare from Ballarat in Victoria's central highlands took between five-and-a-half to six hours plus rest stops and cost about $1200 for the single passenger.
"We're very strict with our driver fatigue rules," she said.
"We have had a journey go as far as Donald (170 kilometres from Ballarat) but we haven't had one go as far as to Wagga. It's a rare thing that happens but on occasion it does happen."
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Ms Wilson said the fare was agreed to in advance as a fixed cost that included the expense of returning the taxi to Ballarat.
"We also put our driver up in Wagga just so they had a good night's rest," she said.
Matthew Matters said it was the "fare of a lifetime".
"I had a lot of people looking my way as I was driving around Wagga in a taxi obviously from Victoria," he said.
It was just one person who had to get back on the spot.
- Ballarat Eureka Taxis driver Matthew Matters
There is not much information available about why the passenger chose this form of transport as opposed to passenger rail or a flight.
"All I know is that it was a family emergency," Ms Wilson said.
"It was just one person who had to get back on the spot.
"I've known drivers at other companies who have taken a fare to South Australia, so this kind of thing does crop up but it's not an everyday thing."