As the barriers go up and the tracks are laid, Canberra's cab drivers will watch serenely from the sidelines, content in the knowledge it won't affect their business.
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Taxi drivers in the ACT said they didn't mind the arrival of the light rail into Canberra as both methods of transport target different groups of commuters.
Canberra Taxi Industry Association executive director Tony Bryce said it wouldn't reduce the number of Canberrans catching taxis and might even help drivers, if it reduces congestion.
"I think it's targeting a different clientele to what the taxi services [does]," he said. "I would think that they're more aimed at the bus passengers and possibly those that drive their own cars at the moment, rather than taxi customers."
Mr Bryce said he was keen to see taxi ranks at major light rail hubs up and down the route. "At times of bad weather when people aren't going to walk or ride their bike, there needs to be a service to do that and a lot of people prefer taxis," he said.
Long-time Canberra cab drivers Ted Hamilton said when ACTION had introduced Nightrider buses it hadn't had a significant effect on taxi service and the light rail wouldn't either.
"People look at how much money it's going to cost them, [so] there might be four or five fellows taking a taxi to get home," he said. "They might have four drops but they get down to about seven or eight dollars each, so they share the fare."
Mr Hamilton said people took taxis because there were no public transport options. "They get in them when there's no other way of going or doing what they want to do," he said. "We take a lot of kids to school and pick them up and bring them home and they wouldn't use us if there was another way."
But not everyone agrees – another taxi driver said the industry was going through hard times in the ACT and the light rail would be another hit to struggling industry.
"If they've got a light rail going from Gungahlin to the city that's going to take quite a bit of work, particularly if they're going to run it to late at night," he said. "I think it'll send a few operators broke."
Mr Hamilton said history would decide if the light rail had been a success. "Everybody's going to love it if it works, it it doesn't they'll say I told you so. People are all authorities on something they've never got into," he said with a chuckle.
