There was a significant fall in the use of taxis and rideshare services last year according to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal’s (IPART) annual transport survey.
Acting Tribunal Member of IPART, Mike Smart said the report, 2020 Point-to-Point Transport Survey Report, showed that the drop in the use of taxis was higher than that for rideshare in both regional and urban areas.
“In Sydney, the percentage of respondents reporting using a taxi in the previous 6six months fell from 49 per cent in 2019 to just 31 per cent in 2020,” Mr Smart said.
“During the same period rideshare use fell from 51 per cent to 44 per cent,” he said.
“COVID-19 has clearly had a major impact on all transport services with lockdowns, venue restrictions and concerns about crowds.”
Mr Smart said rideshare use overtook traditional taxi services in Sydney in 2019, and the trend continued in 2020 with more Sydneysiders reporting they had used rideshare more than taxis.
He said rideshare use also overtook traditional taxi use in other urban areas (Newcastle, Wollongong, Gosford and Wyong) in 2020, although both forms of transport had lower use than in 2019.
“Rideshare continued to outperform taxis on perceptions of fares, waiting times and overall trip satisfaction in Sydney and other urban areas,” he said.
“However, satisfaction with taxis remained stronger than rideshare in the rest of NSW.”
Mr Smart said taxis were viewed more positively than rideshare in terms of perceptions of safety however, perceptions of value for money were more positive for rideshare than taxis.
IPART’s 133-page Survey Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
