Concern ‘small, fragile’ regional markets can’t sustain Uber-taxi competition

The ride-sharing app will launch in Orange next month, along with Bathurst, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Tamworth and Wagga Wagga.

Bathurst councillor Jess Jennings said while there is nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, he’s not certain Uber and the city’s taxi service will be going into their competition on an even playing field. 

“It’s very easy for new entities to come in, undercut the market and effectively crash the market, so it’s not profitable for anyone to operate,” he said.

“Which then means the real losers out of that are not just the existing taxi owners, but also the Bathurst community, because the potential is there for the taxi service to be withdrawn.

“It might not be withdrawn completely, but you might start losing the quieter periods of the week, [these] might not be supported by the service.”

Other concerns include the safety of people using Uber, pay rates, and whether Uber could service people with physical impairment, particularly if the traditional taxi service was lost.

“I’m personally not against competition, in fact I am personally in favour of healthy competition, but this is not necessarily healthy competition if this is such a small market and, as such, a fragile market,” Cr Jennings said.

“We run the risk of crashing that market.”