New push for Uber discount could help thousands of Aussies save 50 per cent per trip

For thousands of Australians like Bruce Maguire, including Uber in the NSW Taxi Transport Subsidy Scheme would be a game-changer. Source: Vision Australia/Supplied

For thousands of Australians like Bruce Maguire, who is blind and partially deaf, accessible transport is paramount for maintaining independence and confidence.

But for Bruce, who lives in Sydney, every time he has to catch a taxi, it's an immediate source of anxiety. In New South Wales, the state introduced a smart card system in 2020 to replace paper vouchers, meant to give residents with mobility, vision, or other access needs a discount on taxis. However, he said, years on, the Taxi Transport Subsidy Scheme (TTSS) is only making it harder. 

"The basic problem is that since the introduction of the so-called smart card, the operation of the scheme has become much more problematic," Bruce said in an interview with Yahoo News. "When we were using paper vouchers, every taxi driver in NSW could accept them, and there was never any doubt about that. 

"The vouchers didn’t expire, so you didn’t have to worry about whether or not you could use them. But since the card was introduced in 2020, to use it, the taxi has to have a Cabcharge terminal. Not all taxis have them, and as a blind person, when I get in, I don’t know what terminal it’s got." 

NSW introduced a smart card system in 2020, meant to give residents with mobility, vision, or other access needs a discount on taxis. However, years on, it's only making it harder. Source: Supplied/Vision Australia

Bruce said this creates confusion and inconvenience for many across the state who are eligible for a discount, but will often end up paying the full fare out of pocket when the subsidy can’t be processed. 

"Vouchers give you a 50 per cent discount up to a maximum of $120 trips, so essentially half fare on many taxi trips," Bruce said. "But if the taxi driver says to me, 'I can’t process the card because I don’t have the right terminal,' I don’t know whether he’s telling the truth or not. And if he doesn’t have the card reader he’s supposed to have, you have to carry paper vouchers in case the card can’t be processed. 

"What’s the point of the card in the first place if you still have to have paper?

"The other issue is that the card expires in three years, and you have to have it renewed. If you don’t get the notification that it’s expired or you don’t get around to renewing it in time, you can’t use it. That was never an issue with paper vouchers." 

A policy advisor at non-profit organisation Vision Australia, Bruce said, "the smart card hasn’t been all that smart." According to data collected by the group, many respondents have expressed dissatisfaction with the current scheme. A key finding showed that 53 per cent of NSW participants would be more likely to use the TTSS if rideshare services like Uber were included as an option. 

"I get into an Uber, I know exactly how far away the driver is — the app tells me 800 metres away, 200 metres away, 20 metres away — and then there it is. I get in, we arrive at the destination, I get out. It’s all done. I don’t have to worry about it," Bruce said. 

"The rest of the community has had a choice for 12 years as to whether they use taxis or rideshare, and there are advantages for people who are blind in using rideshare — just as there can be advantages in using taxis — but we don’t have the choice because the TTSS only applies to taxis. 

"I got a taxi recently ... and the app said it was on its way, but I had no idea what that meant. Ten minutes away? Thirty minutes away?" 

Now, Bruce, with Vision Australia, has renewed calls for the NSW Government and other states to follow Victoria’s lead by expanding subsidy schemes to include rideshare providers.

Victoria’s Multi-Purpose Taxi Program has included subsidised rideshare options through Uber since 2021, with overwhelmingly positive results. According to the survey, 97 per cent of Victorian participants said their usage of the scheme had either increased or remained consistent since rideshare was added. 

While acknowledging that rideshare services aren’t without flaws — such as ongoing issues with dog guide refusals — Bruce and Vision Australia stress that people with disabilities deserve the same level of choice and accessibility as everyone else.

"We’re not criticising the majority of taxi drivers, but it’s the infrastructure and technology that taxis are using that just doesn’t work as well," he said. 

"But I have just given up using the TTSS. I just paid the full fare. I just can't be bothered with the hassle of figuring out what the meter says and what it doesn’t say — and then arguing about what the amount of subsidy should be. If I forget to tell the driver at the start of the trip that I want to use the TTSS, and he doesn’t turn the meter on, then there’s no way you can use it. 

"It’s about choice. The rest of the community has the choice — we think people who are blind should have the same choice the rest of the community has."

If Victoria can make the change, there’s no reason NSW, among other states, can’t follow, Bruce added. Yahoo News Australia has contacted Transport for NSW for comment. 

This article originally appeared on Yahoo News Australia at https://au.news.yahoo.com/new-push-for-uber-discount-could-help-thousands-of-aussies-save-50-per-cent-per-trip-023907971.html

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