Taxis to lose millions as Sydney Airport’s Uber rank made permanent

2 hours ago 2

A controversial Uber kerbside rank at Sydney Airport’s international terminal will be made permanent next year after it raked in more than 300,000 of around 430,000 passenger trips in a 12-month trial that has cost Sydney’s taxi drivers millions and drawn claims of anticompetitive conduct.

The trial was extended for six months recently to allow government officials time to draft plans to make permanent the T1 terminal kerbside zone, which is expected to come into effect in March after receiving positive feedback from drivers and passengers in the past year.

Taxi driver Imrul Hassan has faced significant financial losses due to the Uber rank.

Uber was granted an exemption to operate the rank and hail service usually reserved for taxis, prompting cab drivers to refuse fares from the airport under a day-long strike staged one week before the trial began last year.

NSW Taxi Council chief executive Nick Abrahim estimated that taxis won 70 per cent of fares before the Uber trial, with that proportion falling to 30 per cent since.

NSW Transport Minister John Graham said the trial results “speak for themselves”, as passengers report reduced waiting times while drivers spend less time “clogging up the airport”.

“By making this permanent, we are adding another layer of convenience and predictability for travellers,” Graham told the Herald.

“These innovations are helping ensure the welcome to Sydney remains as warm as it has ever been.”

Passengers queue for the Uber taxi rank at Sydney Airport last year.

The decision is likely to incense taxi drivers, whose earning capacity has dwindled as a result of the trial.

Imrul Hassan, a cab driver of 10 years, who waited for 30 minutes at the airport to pick up a fare before the trial, now waits 90 minutes, as he navigates “chaos” brought by an influx of Uber drivers.

“I’m losing three hours just to get one fare,” he said.

“It is not a level playing field. We’ve been treated badly, ever since they started Uber.”

Uber Australia and New Zealand managing director Emma Foley said the kerbside service, which also operates at Melbourne Airport, was “popular” among travellers enjoying a “more simple, reliable and convenient option”, and pledged to “build on what we’ve started” in the trial.

There are no plans to extend the service to Western Sydney Airport, due to open next year, while state productivity commissioner Peter Achterstraat warned against its addition in the city and other night-time precincts, saying that narrow kerbs, cycle lanes and mixed-use zoning would complicate the program.

Abrahim, who embraced a $60 flat taxi fare trial from Sydney Airport to the city, said Uber was being awarded a “free kick” to run the service, which he said was “making a mockery” of competition rules.

“We know that Uber at this point are doing potentially two to three times more than the trips taxis are now doing since this trial has been in place,” Abrahim said. “They’ve been given an upper hand and a leg-up … it makes it very difficult.”

Work to make the service permanent is expected to address legislative and regulatory changes.

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