Uber has well and truly entered the market in Australia. However, the app-based transport service's journey hasn't been without controversy and opposition from the taxi industry. Initially, much of the kerfuffle circled around the legality of UberX, a ride-sharing service that links passengers with private drivers through an app. But as regulation has been, or is planned to be, introduced in most states and territories, the legality of ride-share services is more or less resolved.
UberX first made a splash in Australia back in April 2014. Since then, a number of other ride-sharing services, such as GoCar and even the female-only service Shebah, have launched. In that time the ride-sharing industry has seen a steady increase in passenger demand, while it appears taxi use has remained consistent, according to figures from an Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal. For example, as of November 2016, one third of Sydneysiders had used a ride-sharing service compared with one tenth two years prior.
How do these services work?
Taxi
Taxi drivers are essentially self-employed businesspeople, working under the umbrella of one of a number of taxi companies. Drivers will pay a set amount to lease the taxi or give a percentage of the takings. Taxis can be booked in a number of ways – online, over the phone, hailed off the street or through a range of booking apps. Payments can be made via cash, credit card, or Cabcharge.
Uber
UberX operates wholly through the Uber app, linking up passengers with private drivers using their own cars. Riders can also book a taxi through the app, or use the more premium service, UberBlack. The app detects your location via GPS and connects you with the nearest available driver. The vehicle's approach can be tracked through the app and the driver's details are sent to the passenger. Payment is cashless – passengers must enter their credit card details when signing up. If you need to cancel, you have up to five minutes after the driver accepts before you'll be charged a cancellation fee. Uber takes a 20–27.5% cut of the driver's fare depending on when they signed up.
Our user trial
Amid the controversy back in 2015, we set out to test UberX and taxi services and find out which was cheapest and most reliable. We conducted a total of 56 trips across Sydney – 28 UberX rides and 28 taxi rides. All trips were taken in pairs – one test rider in a cab and one in an UberX, both travelling from and to the same place – and distributed across seven different time bands to ensure we captured variations in pricing.
Midweek
- 6am–10am/5pm–10pm
- 10am–5pm
- 10pm–6am
Weekend
- 6am–midday
- Midday–5pm
- 5pm–midnight
- Midnight–6am
Trips were conducted in the inner areas of Sydney between 27 August 2015 and 11 September 2015 (after UberX drivers were required to start paying GST). Prices were compared based on the end cost to the user.
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