New research from Roy Morgan shows that with over 4.4 million Australians (21.5% of the population) using Uber in an average three months the popular ride-sharing app is set to overtake the traditional taxi as Australia’s preferred private transportation service during 2019.
Uber’s 4.4 million Australian customers are now within touching distance of the almost 4.5 million Australians (21.7%) that use taxis in an average three months.
Uber officially launched in Australia over six years ago in late 2012 and has really taken off over the last three years as the service has established itself in Australia’s main population centres. Patronage of Uber has grown from 6.6% in mid-2016 to 21.5% now, an increase of 14.9ppts in under three years.
During the same time period fewer Australians are using taxis but the decline has been far gentler down from 24.4% in mid-2016 to 21.7% now, a drop of only 2.7ppts.
Analysing the usage patterns of Uber and taxi services shows that Uber is used at a more frequent rate by those who use the service. Uber customers take an average of over 4.1 trips in an average three months compared to fewer than 3.8 trips taken by Australians who use taxis…
Unsurprisingly Uber has been a big hit for “Technology Early Adopters” with 40% travelling by Uber in an average three months compared to 30% that have travelled by taxi. Those in the “Digital Life” segment are also more likely to have travelled by Uber (23%) than by taxi (16%).
However taxis (30%) still hold a marginal advantage amongst the “Professional Technology Mainstream” ahead of Uber (26%).
Taxis are also the preferred personal transportation vehicle of choice for the ‘Laggards’ known as “Technophobes”. Nearly twice as many “Technophobes” travel by taxis (17%) than travel by Uber (10%)…
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.
