Most taxi drivers hunt for the big jobs. By big, I mean long distance jobs. Typically, these usually come from the Airport. But big jobs can also come from outside the Airport. The wait time at the Airport, on average, is around 45 minutes, and can be as long as 2 hours. The typical wait time outside the Airport is around 25 minutes, but the jobs are usually smaller in distance. There are two words that taxi drivers dread after waiting at the Airport: "Duntroon, please."
Since returning to taxi driving about two and a half years ago, I have done about five big jobs, by big, I mean jobs over $90. Four of these came from hospitals. Only one came from the Airport, which was to Collector via DFAT, and the fare came to just shy of $220. That was my best job ever. From the hospitals I have been to Wamboin ($90), Braidwood ($190), Bungendore ($90), and Yass ($160).
The taxi company I am affiliated with, ACTCABS, has the contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to take veterans with a Gold Card to their medical appointments. These DVA jobs are typically long in distance, and by my rough calculations, average around $50.
Having said all that, jobs over $50 can come from anywhere. You just never know. When offering you a job, the dispatch system doesn't tell you where the job is going, only the pickup location. And if you choose reject a job after accepting it, you are blocked from receiving a dispatch job for 4 hours.
My strategy is to accept all jobs offered to me with two provisos. The first is not two accept a job from Ainslie, as this is normally a job from Ainslie Village. Ainslie Village jobs are always small jobs and most customers smell like they haven't had a shower in weeks. The second is to not accept a job in Queanbeyan while waiting at the Airport as these are short jobs from the hospital. Jobs from the hospital used to be good ones, but over the past year I have done about six which have been small. I have a conspiracy theory that the Queanbeyan Hospital calls Queanbeyan Cabs for big jobs, and ACTCABS for smaller ones.
