Uber begins taking passengers at midday on Friday, signalling the end of an era for Canberra's taxi industry, but the ride-sharing firm would not say on Thursday just how many Uber drivers it expects to be picking up passengers from day one, beyond saying it would be in the "hundreds".
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Questions to Uber about specific numbers of drivers and the male/female split went unanswered on Thursday.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government understood there had been "significant interest from prospective drivers, and is awaiting details from Uber". About 280 drivers had passed the government police and vehicle checks, and from Friday, the government would request driver names and vehicle details from Uber, he said.
Mr Barr welcomed the arrival of Uber and said he was confident it would offer a safe and quality service.
It ends the monopoly of taxis in Canberra, and allows anyone signed up with an approved ride-sharing firm, such as Uber, to take passengers so long as they pass police, health and vehicle checks, and have insurance. People who have had their licence suspended or been disqualified from driving in the last five years are banned, and medical certificates are needed in some cases, including for drivers of 70 or older. Drivers must have a zero blood-alcohol reading and be drug free.
Passengers must book through the app, with taxis still the only cars allowed to pick up people hailing a ride on the street or on a taxi rank (and wheelchair passengers), although the government is looking at allowing ride-sharing drivers to pick up passengers at loading zones in future.
Uber drivers cannot take cash or tips for now, with fares automatically charged to a credit card through the app at the destination. It was unclear on Thursday how much the fares would be, but Uber claimed its rides would be 25 to 35 per cent cheaper than Canberra taxis.
When you book an Uber ride, you are given the driver's name, car registration and photograph, and shown the location of the car, so you can track its progress. Uber urged passengers to check the name, registration and photograph against the app details before getting into a car.
At the moment taxi drivers must be trained but there is no training requirement for Uber drivers. The government is considering at a new and shorter training regime for both.
Uber's own rules say drivers must be at least 21, have held a driving licence for at least a year, and pass a driving history check, a criminal history check and a vehicle inspection. They must own a four-door vehicle no more than nine years old.
Mr Barr said red tape was being "stripped away from this industry".
Competition was at the core of the change, and would lead to lower prices, higher quality, improved reliability and responsiveness, Mr Barr said, hitting out at the Liberals as "the party that is now against competition".
"They want to protect the cartels … They are against competition and they are against the future," he said.
The entry of Uber heralds major disruption to taxi operators, with the big losers possibly the owners of perpetual plates. In recent years, taxi plates have been leased for an annual fee, currently $20,000, and slashed as of Friday to $10,000, halving again in a year's time. But until about 20 years ago, plates were sold in perpetuity - and most of the 284 taxi licences are in this category, with 217 perpetual plates.
A number of perpetual plates appear to have been bought as investments and have been sold between owners in the years since. Online ads are running at the moment from owners seeking to sell the plates, for prices of around $280,000. But given the ability to lease a plate for $10,000 a year and $5000 in a year's time, it looks unlikely that people will be rushing to invest in a perpetual plate.
More than half the owners of perpetual plates live outside the territory and some owners own multiple plates, according to government figures – the plates are owned by 170 people, 89 of whom live outside Canberra.
There are 1478 drivers licensed to drive taxis in Canberra.