Use Uber, lobbyists tell public servants
Government agencies could save about $3.3 million a year by ditching taxis and making more use of ride-sharing services such as Uber, the Taxpayers Union lobby group believes.
Spokesman Matthew Rhodes said the estimate had ‘‘limitations,’’ but it was the most solid one that could be made using public information.
It was based on the $13 – or 35 per cent – saving that people could make by taking an Uber from the head office of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to Wellington airport.
TaxiFares.co.nz estimates the average taxi fare for that journey at
We do not discourage staff from using services such as Uber Merv Dacre
$37.50, with Uber charging $24.37.
According to figures from MBIE, the 28 core government agencies spent about $9.3m on taxis in the year to June, about $200 per employee a year.
Only about $77,000 was spent on the likes of Uber.
Rhodes believed more savings could be made if the public sector used ride-sharing and shelved plans to replace some of the 15,500 vehicles it owned.
Five agencies still bar employees from using Uber for staff travel.
The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) was the biggest spender, forking out nearly $1.3m on taxis and Uber journeys, although it didn’t know the breakdown between the two.
It also owns 1196 vehicles which cost $3m to run last year.
MSD deputy chief executive Merv Dacre said many of its 7000 staff needed to travel to deliver the services they had to provide.
‘‘While we don’t have a specific policy about the use of ridesharing services, we do not discourage staff from using services such as Uber and reimburse costs in the same way we reimburse taxi costs,’’ he said.
MBIE, which handles Crown contracts for transportation, said its policy was for staff to only use taxis when appropriate.