Uber rides are safe, reliable and cost-effective: Choice

Consumer advocacy group Choice dismissed the claims of the NSW Taxi Council that said ridesharing services are risky. In addition, it also declared that Uber rides are safer and cheaper than the taxi rides in Sydney.

To investigate the Council’s claim, Choice asked its staff members to make 56 trips across Sydney in pairs, including half ride on UberX and half on regular taxis. The staff followed the instructions and took a ride seven different times to identify the price difference.

After the comparative research, it was found that UberX rides are safe, reliable and cost-effective, though it is illegal under the NSW Passenger Transport Act. “When we looked at a comparative between UberX and the taxi industry on things like checks, record of trip, GPS tracking, rating system and insurance, UberX performed very well, as did the taxi industry,” SMH reported Tom Godfrey of Choice as saying.

UberX, whose ridesharing was claimed to be risky, was found 40 percent cheaper than taxis in Sydney. After the announcement made by the state government advocating the establishment of a taskforce to examine the future of the taxi industry, a campaign was organised by the NSW council, saying “Ridesharing. It’s no safer than hitch-hiking.” But Choice could hardly find any evidence to prove the slogan to be true.

Secondly, the taxis, in many cases, did not turn up, which made them unreliable. “Part of the problem may be that taxi drivers are told the passenger’s destination, which may make short trips less attractive. Uber drivers, on the other hand, aren’t given your destination until they turn up,” Godfrey said.

Again, UberX rides are more accessible and they arrive more quickly compared to the taxis. In spite of so many benefits that passengers get from UberX, carrying passengers is still illegal for it. In August, NSW’s Baird government commissioned a taskforce that said UberX is a beneficial public passenger service and hence should be made legal. However, the final report of the taskforce is due in October.

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