{"id":33584,"date":"2023-10-20T14:31:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/aussie-uber-clocks-up-10-million-rides-and-tells-governments-its-time-they-got-on-board-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:31:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:31:17","slug":"aussie-uber-clocks-up-10-million-rides-and-tells-governments-its-time-they-got-on-board-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/aussie-uber-clocks-up-10-million-rides-and-tells-governments-its-time-they-got-on-board-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie Uber clocks up 10 million rides and tells governments it\u2019s time they got on board – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

A new report detailing Uber\u2019s impact in Australia has placed further pressure on state governments to act now or risk falling behind on innovation, the ride-sharing giant\u2019s regional head David Rohrsheim says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The report by Deloitte<\/a>, commissioned by Uber, was released on Monday and examines the impact of the platform on \u201cdrivers, regulators, traditional businesses and consumers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It finds that while ride-sharing only accounted for 6% of the total point-to-point transport market in August last year, the use of Uber is growing rapidly.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since its launch two years ago, the study says there have been 10 million UberX rides in Australia, with 1.2 million of these coming in August alone.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Deloitte study says there has been an overall net benefit of $81 million per year for Australia consumers in terms of price and service differences.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were telling the world it would be good news for riders, drivers and cities, and it\u2019s nice to have someone review the results of that promise,\u201d Rohrsheim tells StartupSmart.<\/i><\/p>\n


<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe most significant finding is that we are creating new trips \u2013 we\u2019re growing the pipe. These are trips that otherwise wouldn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A test for governments<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rohrsheim says Uber provides an important test for state governments.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something governments can\u2019t ignore,\u201d he says. \u201cSome, it could be argued, are ignoring it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is another reason for them to start paying more attention and to react rather than pretend it\u2019s not happening.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been asking for regulation from day one. It\u2019s an important test for government on how quickly they understand it and react to it \u2013 is their policy to say \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 by default?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStates that get a track record of adapting quicker will send a strong signal to entrepreneurs and investors that they walk the talk on innovation. New South Wales and the ACT have put themselves at the top of the list for embracing innovation when it arrives.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll eyes are on the rest of the states.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Uber has been officially legalised and regulated in New South Wales<\/a> and the ACT,<\/a> with both governments providing a compensation package to the taxi industry.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rohrsheim, who was in Melbourne to launch the report, says a key reason Uber has yet to be regulated in Victoria is the state government trying to legalise the service and improve the taxi industry at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a long, long list of documented shortcomings in that industry and it\u2019s absolutely something worth tackling, but it\u2019s complex,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an old industry that isn\u2019t easy to fix overnight.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t say yes to ride-sharing in the mean tine \u2013 they don\u2019t need to be coupled together.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s holding faster reform back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just getting started\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are now 13,000 active Uber drivers in Australia according to the study, with $260 million in fares collected per year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Rohrsheim says Uber has lofty plans to grow in Australia.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are plenty of opportunities left in this,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always look at a city like Sydney or Melbourne, where there are millions of cars on the road and thousands are signed up to Uber.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s an enormous untapped opportunity to make better use of resources.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt still feels like just the beginning for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Plans for 2016<\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This year will see Uber expand further across Australia, especially outside of the major cities, Rohrsheim says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll definitely see us in more regional areas,\u201d Rohrsheim says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very excited to bring a transport solution to cities that just don\u2019t have one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll also see the introduction of new features, including UberPool, where users can splits fares with others travelling in a similar direction.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019re very, very excited about,\u201d Rohrsheim says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s live in 15 cities around the world and will be in some Australian cities later this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>, and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n


<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new report detailing Uber\u2019s impact in Australia has placed further pressure on state governments to act now or risk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}