The ACT Government is currently deciding on the introduction of Rideshare services into the ACT. Please tell them your safety is important. 

Allowing Ridesharing services to enter the market without the safety regulation required of taxis puts passengers and drivers at risk and jeopardizes the community service obligations required of taxis that people expect in a fair society.

Regulation has been developed for taxi services in Australia to ensure minimum service standards and maximum safety is provided to the travelling public. If something happens to you in a rideshare car you may not have any evidence to support your claim. Hardwired GPS, alarms and security cameras ensure the safety of passengers and drivers and may be admissible evidence in a court of law in the event something goes wrong. If Rideshare services are not subject to the same taxi regulation it will undo over 30 years of reviews in the ACT into making transportation safe.

 Last year the taxi industry provided the Canberra Police (AFP) with camera, GPS tracking and other data to help over 300 policing matters be resolved to protect passengers and drivers. That’s 300 policing matters that the AFP received admissible evidence to help make Canberra a safer place to live.

Ridesharing apps without current taxi regulations are a free for all where passengers and drivers get little if any help or support.

Having a competitor enter the market at an unfair advantage will put the community services obligations expected in a fair society at risk. Taxi fares in Canberra are regulated by the ACT government to ensure affordability for all and are set according to the minimum operating costs of a taxi including safety regulation requirements.  Operating and driving a taxi in the ACT has never been easy due to the transient nature of the market.

Here are some of the services provided by regulated taxis and expected by society. They are not provided by rideshare apps:

• Affordable fares for all during peak times (no surge pricing 300-825%),
• Services to outer suburbs (not just within a 5 minute pickup zone),
• Wheelchair accessible vehicles,
• Paying for something in cash without having to provide your credit card details.
• Transportation and trained assistance for disabled persons such as the vision impaired.
• Phoning for transportation (24/7). Not everybody owns a smartphone.
• Vehicles on the road 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• Keeping your personal contact information private from your driver.

Comprehensive Insurance costs for all will also rise in ACT. If the ACT Government allows private cars to do taxi work then insurance premiums for all private cars in Canberra could see large increases in premiums. Taxis currently pay more than $9500 in insurance because they carry a greater risk. This is compared to approximately $640 paid by a private car for business use. The Insurance Council of Australia has stated in its submission to the ACT Taxi Review that its members would ‘expect ride-sharing vehicles to be separately classified for the purposes of risk rating’. The ICA have warned that if rideshare vehicles are not classified according to their risk then it will need to be cross-subsidised. This means your insurance premiums are likely to rise. Private cars cannot do taxi work without everyone paying the price.

 If the ACT Government bows to pressure applied from the Ridesharing app developers then Canberra police will lose access to local support and strong laws that help them to do their job; we will all be paying more to benefit a large multinational; and we risk losing the services we should have in society. We will all be worse off.

Help keep transportation fair and safe. Don’t allow large multinational companies destroy the services that you expect in a fair society.

Insist that ‘Rideshare’ apps like Uber be subject to the same regulations.