Brisbane Uber drivers travelling four hours to Bundaberg for fares

Uber drivers from Brisbane are reportedly making four-hour trips into regional Queensland for the chance to cash in on high demand.

UBER drivers from Brisbane are reportedly making four-hour trips into regional Queensland for the chance to cash in on high demand.

It was a slow start for the ridesharing app's regional launch, with at least two of the five new locations having a severe customer demand v driver imbalance since it came to town at the beginning of December.

A source told the Bundaberg NewsMail Brisbane-based drivers had made the four-hour commute for a chance to make extra money while demand was high.

Although Uber had not confirmed the claim, a spokeswoman said drivers were not required to stay in certain locations.

"Driver partners are free to accept or reject trip requests and to travel to new destinations to take trips,” the spokeswoman said.

She said the flexibility to work whenever and wherever they want is what appeals to potential partners.

The news comes just a day after Uber drivers Australia-wide protested against 'fake' surge areas, accusing the company of misleading them to locations that were 'in demand', which turned out to be false.

Surge areas appeal to partners as jobs in those locations include an increased fare, but complaints claimed drivers would arrive to find only base-rate bookings or none at all.

Rideshare Drivers Australia United founder Max B, who asked for his surname not to be used, told The Courier-Mail a surge area meant better pay for drivers, yet often resulted in costing the driver money.

"Some drivers will complain Uber makes them drive 10km to 15km to a surging area, then they'll sit there for 30 minutes with no jobs," he said.,” Mr B said.

"So they've just lost an hour of time and depreciated their car so it's bad for the driver.”

An Uber spokeswoman denied any fake surges.

"We want driver-partners to be successful so they continue to choose Uber, which is why we invest in innovations to get more riders using the app and by sharing information with driver-partners to help them identify which parts of a city are busier than others at various times,” she said.