1st Sep 2017 8:38 AM
Daily Mercury
MACKAY taxi drivers and Queensland Taxi Council have said they would welcome the competition of Uber, even in regional towns, if the playing field was equal for both services.
Taxi Council Queensland CEO Blair Davies said at the moment Uber was a huge issue for both customers and taxis, with government regulations not ensuring Uber is safe and fair to consumers, or in the same competitive market as taxis.
“Uber is a huge problem and very much a problem for regional centres like Mackay, mainly because typically those booked hire services will cherry pick the good work and not be too interested in the work that is hard to do,” Mr Davies said.
“Consequently small centres that don’t have good public transport systems in terms of buses and trains will then rely on the taxi services.
“As we are put under financial pressure it can well be that the level of service taxis provide gets degraded because the money isn’t there to provide the service, it’s a bad cycle and a major issue.”