Ridesharing is a relatively new class of point to point transport. Businesses like Uber, as well as its competitors including Lyft and DiDi Kuaidi, operate dynamic platforms through which driver partners who offer their own vehicles are matched with passengers who are seeking to reach a destination. It is distinct from traditional taxi services in that ridesharing services only collect passengers who book through their platform, that payments are generally only permitted through the platform and that the cars are not registered as taxis. The impacts of ridesharing have been all the starker because they have occurred in such a short period. Uber launched in Australia in 2012 offering its UberBLACK service which only uses licensed hire cars. Uber’s ridesharing service, uberX, commenced operations in Sydney and Melbourne from April 2014. Since then, uberX has expanded to operate in Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Geelong and the Gold Coast. This report provides an initial assessment of the economic effects of ridesharing for Australia — what it means for drivers on the Uber platform, regulators, traditional businesses, and most importantly: consumers. It is intended for the report to be broad in scope, but the sheer newness of the services means that in some areas like price impacts, safety issues and growth of service, the analysis is indicative, or qualitative, where data is not available. Further, while this report discusses some regulatory issues in passing, it does not examine or propose recommendations for the regulatory framework for ridesharing in areas like tax, industrial relations, or transport specific laws. (Author/publisher)
Abstract