Ridesharing services are coming to the Murraylands this week
Services like Uber will be able to operate more easily outside metropolitan Adelaide from now on, and changes are coming to the taxi industry, too.
Ridesharing services such as Uber will be allowed to operate in the Murraylands from this week as the state government lifts restrictions on their use.
Until now, ridesharing services and chauffeured vehicles had been banned from both starting and finishing a journey outside metropolitan Adelaide unless they had a special accreditation.
They could take you to or from the city, but not around country areas.
State Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the change had been one of the main recommendations of a recent review of passenger transport in South Australia.
“Our thorough and wide-ranging review recognised that current arrangements needed to adapt to better service outer-urban and regional residents, as well as to support greater tourism and access to popular regional attractions and events,” he said.
The Murraylands’ state MP, Adrian Pederick, welcomed the change.
“For too long, communities outside of Adelaide have been disadvantaged when it comes to transport options,” he said.
“The expansion of rideshare services will provide locals and visitors with greater choice, convenience, and accessibility.
“I encourage rideshare providers to take up this opportunity and expand their services across our regions.”
The state government is also attempting to introduce more competition to the taxi market, pushing laws through parliament that would allow Adelaide taxi companies to compete with locally owned services.
Both changes will sit uneasily with local taxi services like Des’s, whose manager Helen Hansen expressed concerns about the future of her business to Murray Bridge News late last year.
The passenger transport review only looked at taxis, ridesharing and similar services, and did not include any look at buses or trains.
