A few weeks back, Melbourne’s taxi industry threatened violence against ridesharing service Uber-X, which was operating illegally and ‘stealing’ customers from taxis:
David Singh, from the group Victorian Taxi Families, said the situation could turn violent if problems facing the state’s taxi drivers were not fixed…
Mr Singh said Uber drivers’ cars should be impounded and drivers given demerit points…
“Uber is illegal. Ride-share is illegal and we need the rule of law to be enforced,” Mr Singh said.
“If the decisions are not made correctly, things will be out of my hands and the drivers will do what they want to do. It could get pretty ugly and violent.
“I wouldn’t want to be an Uber or ride-share driver if things aren’t made out to be an even playing field for us.”
Mr Singh said cars could be damaged or tipped over.
Yesterday, Uber-X was effectively legalised after a Melbourne driver won an appeal against a $900 fine for operating without accreditation. From ABC News:
Nathan Brenner, 54, was ordered to pay the fine and the prosecution costs of the Victorian Taxi Commission in December after being found guilty of several charges, including operating a commercial vehicle without a licence…
A County Court judge has now ruled in favour of Mr Brenner and struck out the charges and overturned the fine imposed by the Melbourne Magistrates Court.
Victoria’s Taxi Services Commissioner has been ordered to pay Mr Brenner’s legal costs in the appeal…
Professor Alan Fels headed a 2012 government inquiry into the taxi industry that recommended sweeping changes.
He is now a member of Uber’s international advisory board and he welcomed the decision.
“This is a landmark decision. It potentially clears the way for full competition between taxis and ride-sharers like Uber,” he said.
“That will be good for customers and the public.”
Professor Fels said governments needed to get on with the business of regulating the ride-sharing service.
“Already hundreds of thousands of Australians are using Uber,” he said. “It’s obvious it’s here to stay. We have to find a way forward of letting it stay and letting taxis compete with it.”
Back in February, Deloitte released a report showing that Uber’s ridesharing service is delivering benefits to consumers worth more than $80 million a year, with some 1.2 million Uber-X rides completed in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth in August 2015.
Deloitte found that Uber-X was on average 20% cheaper than the equivalent taxi fare (including its “dynamic” pricing when consumers pay substantially more for the services at peak times), and that the average waiting time for an Uber-X was just 4.46 minutes, compared with 7.79 minutes for taxis.
With Uber-X already legalised in the ACT and New South Wales, and about to be legalised in Western Australia, and given the insatiable demand from consumers, it was always a matter of time before Victoria fell into line.
You can’t stop progress…
