Uber launches in ACT as Canberra becomes first city to regulate ride sharing
Updated
Uber X was launched in the ACT on Friday, with Canberra becoming the first city in Australia to regulate ride sharing.
On Thursday, the ACT Government passed legislation to allow ride share services, like Uber, to operate in the Territory.
As of 12:00pm Friday, Canberrans were be able to catch a lift with the service.
Uber's Australian general manager David Rohrsheim told 666 ABC's Canberra's Philip Clark that there were about 100 approved Uber drivers in Canberra who were ready to work.
What is Uber?
- An app-based service connecting customers with drivers who use their own cars to provide transportation.
- Available in 60 countries and established in 2009.
- Uses GPS to find a customer's location and connect them to the nearest driver.
- Customers pay using the app and no cash is handled in the vehicle.
- The price is charged per minute or per kilometre plus a base fee, and can change depending on demand.
- Drivers must pass a background check, have insurance and have a registered car.
- Offers a range of service levels - the two most common are UberX and UberBlack.
- UberX is the budget option, which connects registered drivers who use their own, everyday cars to provide lifts for customers. Generally cheaper than a taxi.
- UberBlack is a more expensive luxury version of UberX, in which customers are picked up in a "high-end" black sedan, by a professional chauffeur with a commercial license and commercial auto insurance.
- Other services include Uber SUV, Uber Lux and Uber Taxi, however these are not available everywhere.
He said Canberra's new regulations enshrined in law what his company has already been doing in most other states and territories.
"They (the ACT Government) put in place regulations around background checks, vehicle inspections and insurance, all of which we've had from day one," he said.
"And now that's the law in Canberra."
He congratulated the ACT Government on its approach to ride sharing.
"What the Chief Minister has done here is actually taken a look at opportunities, not just to open up to new things like ride sharing... but also how can they improve options for the taxi industry," he said.
"They've actually lowered a lot of the fees and the red tape ... and actually made it easier for people to launch taxi apps.
"So I think you'll see a whole bunch of innovation inside the taxi sector. And it will always be another choice to help you get around."
Taxi industry 'here to stay'
The ACT Government has been criticised by the taxi industry over its decision to allow Uber to operate in Canberra.
"How we feel about the launch and the regulations is very much betrayed by our Chief Minister, who promised a level playing field, but had no intention of establishing one," Taxi Industry Association chairman John McKeough said.
"Saying that someone else can come into that segment and call it something else so that they don't have to meet the same insurance costs and other costs the taxi industry has to face is most unfair."
But Mr Rohrsheim said Uber's goal was not to damage the taxi industry.
"What we're seeing around the world is a whole generation of people saying 'if you can give me a ride at the push of a button that's very affordable I don't think I'll need to own a car anymore, I'll just rely on this app on my phone to help me get around'," he said.
"And so what we're seeing is more and more people taking rides. We're growing the market for point-to-point transport and taxis are still here to stay.
"They're still going to be a convenient way to hail a ride on the street. That will be their exclusive domain."
Uber driver Ulli Brunnschweiler said taxis would have to adjust to the new environment.
"I understand — if I was a taxi driver I'd be distressed, but change comes, and it has to come," she said.
"I think they will learn how to work with it."
She said the Government's decision to regulate ride sharing had given her peace of mind, as she started out as a driver.
"That was important to me, I didn't want to be outside the law," she added.
"It's a slow process changing things, and Canberra's leading the way."
Topics: transport, states-and-territories, government-and-politics, canberra-2600, act, australia
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