Taxi industry says Millennials should be taking cabs to help save the environment

Rideshare services are booming among tech-savvy Millennials, but a peak lobby group says that if they really care about climate change while insisting on using motorised transport, they should opt for taxis every time. Here’s why.

The peak taxi lobby group has urged Millennials to not only think about excessive price surging, but the environment and take a cab instead of rideshare this festive season.

Australian Taxi Industry Association (ATIA) CEO Blair Davies said the fact that more than 80 per cent of their fleets are hybrid cars should be attractive to environmentally conscious consumers.

“We say to environmentally conscious Millennials, 80 percent of our fleet are hybrid whereas if you’re getting an Uber it’s usually just a stand vehicle of some sort,” Mr Davies said.

“Anybody who is worried about climate change and reducing emissions should think make their preference for a hybrid vehicle which the overwhelming majority of our fleets are.”

Australian Taxi Industry Association CEO Blair Davies says cabs, in the main, are far more environmentally friendly than rideshare vehicles. Pic: The Courier-Mail

The Queensland-based executive said Uber had worked Millennials over into thinking rideshare services were cheaper and more accessible but taxi apps had improved and cabs were definitely cheaper during periods.

“We are dealing with a mindset issue where Uber has convinced a lot of their customers that they are going to be cheaper than taxis and people are addicted to their phones as a solution to get home,” he said.

“Surge pricing will be kicking in a lot this time of year, so taxis are cheaper because there is no surge pricing.”

One of the earlier models of the Toyota Prius Hybrid that ewa part of Black & White Cabs’ fleet. Picture: The Courier-Mail.

Brisbane’s Black & White Cabs operations manager John Tighe said beside hybrid cars being positive to tackling climate change, they are “the most economically viable to run”.

“It’s something when we are tendering for taxi work that we include our submissions, but I’m yet to be moved by any commentary back about how good they are for the environment,” he said.

Mr Tighe said to compete with rideshare they had significantly improved their service to the point that their app defaulted to fixed-pricing once a rider added their credit card details.

He said the fixed-pricing feature was too often ignored by loyal rideshare users who should try their app at least once over the Christmas holiday season.

“One of the things people don’t realise is that the app’s default position, after you enter credit card details, is fixed-pricing and its charged to your credit card,” he said.

“It’s a market that is still growing and we think once people try it they’ll use it again and again.”

The Black & White Cabs app makes booking a ride easy and now offers a default fixed price fare for customers who enter their credit card details. Picture: Supplied

He said their entire fleet of more than 800 vehicles would be on the road New Year’s Eve.

13CABS, which acquired Brisbane’s Yellow Cabs in 2017, would have in excess of 1100 taxis, according to their spokeswoman Mylinh Lee.

She said they too offered fixed pricing, although it was through phone bookings, and they had also introduced Apple Pay.

She said a new initiative, MyDriver, that allowed riders to choose their cabbie via their app, could potentially be a game changer for their fleet.

“You can lock the price in Brisbane through the call centre and it’s the only city in Australia where we offer this service and we also do pre-pay,” Ms Lee said.

“The ‘MyDriver’ scheme allows riders to bank as many drivers as they can and to use them again in the future.”

13CABS has acquired Brisbane’s Yellow cabs fleet and HAS rebranded their vehicles. On New Year’s Eve 13cabs will have more than 1100 taxis cruising Brisbane to assist people to and from their destinations. Picture: File

Whereas there was only one rideshare company, Uber, several years ago, there are now three following the arrival of Didi and Ola.

An Ola spokesman said surge pricing was dependant on demand and there were no fixed surcharges or surging on public holidays like Christmas, or New Year’s, day.

He said to avoid surge pricing it was best to use Ola before 10pm on New Year’s Eve and well after midnight while being mindful that wait times would be longer than usual.

“New Year’s Eve will be one of the biggest nights of the year for transport.

“We’re expecting a large number of our drivers to hit the roads, but it is likely that many passengers will see prices that are higher than usual and longer wait times, while we manage the increased demand from revellers.

“Ola customers are also reminded to always check the fare estimate before confirming their booking.”

Uber was also contacted for comment.