Uber fare share censure

CLOSE to 1000 people each week catch an Uber in Townsville.

The latest statistics have been revealed as the app- based ride- sharing service celebrates one year operating in Townsville. Uber says more than 50,000 people have chosen to use the ride- sharing app in Townsville so far.

Uber says more than 130 drivers have signed up to the service in Townsville, which they say offers “flexible work with the autonomy and dignity that comes with being their own boss”.

An Uber spokeswoman said Uber’s busiest days in Townsville were Friday and Saturday, with Saturday being the busiest between 9pm and 11pm.

Townsville Taxis general manager Angela Rheeders said the company was pleased the local community had supported taxis.

“Before the introduction of Uber to our city, there was a lot of fear among the drivers, fear of the unknown and fear of the unknown impact of Uber to our city,” she said. “Sure, there has been an impact but we are standing on our own with our sights on the long term.”

Ms Rheeders said Townsville Taxis noticed an impact of having Uber in business only on certain days of the week.

“Our drivers notice an impact with Uber on Friday and Saturday nights with people using ride sharing to get into the city, but what we also notice is that people are still using Townsville Taxis to get back home.

“And that’s the key. Townsville Taxis are always on the road, always available, always reliable.”

Ms Rheeders said the “buy local” campaign applied to Townsville Taxis.

“When someone supports Townsville Taxis, it is putting money back in the local economy,” she said. “Not only are our drivers from Townsville, our call centre is based in Townsville, and the owners of the taxi licences are from Townsville,” she said.

“Uber may offer, at times, a lower fare but people will see that Uber will have to change their business model to be sustainable in the long term.”

While Ms Rheeders says while she welcomes new State Government laws, which come into effect next month, requiring ride- share operators to record and hand over data on their drivers and the trips they took, more needed to be done.

“There is legislation in place to try to level the playing field although it is clearly not an even playing field yet,” she said. “More needs to be done to make it fair for the taxi industry.”

Ms Rheeders called on the Government to level the playing field for insurance, security and tracking.

“We are obligated to do more security- wise, which we will continue to do anyway because we believe that is important,” she said.

“Tamper- proof security cameras and audio are to protect both the driver and passenger and should be a requirement for any public transport.”