Taxi industry fights last war on Uber

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By Leith van Onselen

Australia’s taxi industry is once again calling for Uber to be blocked from operating after the ride sharing service was banned in the City of London. From The Age:

Australian Taxi Industry Association chief executive Blair Davies said it was pleasing to see London authorities “standing up for their rules”…

“Uber have been flouting laws all around the globe and we’ve seen governments cave in to them, particularly in Australia and the USA”…

“Uber have been flouting laws all around the globe and we’ve seen governments cave in to them, particularly in Australia and the USA”…

“We’re seeing more recordings of assaults of passengers in Uber vehicles, we’ve had an Uber driver convicted of rape in Sydney, we had a couple of drivers in Brisbane charged with rapes and another one charged with deprivation of liberty…

“State governments here should be looking at their licensing, just as Transport for London did”…

Uber said the 3.5 million Londoners who regularly use Uber’s app would be astounded by the city’s decision, which would put 40,000 drivers out of work.

After losing its licence to operate in London, Uber stoked the rage of its customers by encouraging them to sign a petition.

The petition, on Change.org, was receiving about 1000 signatures a minute Friday morning, as people reacted to the decision that was endorsed by London mayor Sadiq Khan…

A spokeswoman for the Victorian state government said it would take similar action to its London counterpart if Uber repeatedly broke laws.

The taxi industry needs to change with the times. Restrictive taxi licences are a relic from the protectionist past and have no sound reason to still be in operation.

Love it or hate it, ridesharing services like Uber have injected much-needed competition into the hire car industry and has been incredibly popular among consumers.

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There’s no unscrambling this egg. The taxi industry needs to adapt to the changed competitive environment and lift its game.

We’ve taken a variety of taxis and Ubers over the past few weeks as part of MB’s road show across Australia, and Uber has won hands down on cost and cleanliness of service.

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.