I am very pleased the Queensland Government has brought forward the reporting date of its review into taxi and ride-sharing services, as announced by the Premier yesterday (see Brisbane Times coverage). This followed my call for a fast-tracked review in my submission to Tuesday’s Jobs Growth Summit, and the question I asked the Deputy Premier at the Summit, as covered in my previous post. I do not hold much hope for the Government adopting any of my other recommendations, alas, but good on them for doing this at least.

As covered previously on this blog, the legalisation of Uber and the ending of restrictions on taxi licences would bring large gains to consumers through lower fares, around
$40 million per annum according to a Queensland Department of Premier and Cabinet estimate (see ABC news report). Also there would arguably be benefits through better quality services and a reduction in alcohol-related violence at taxi ranks, as argued by my friend and former colleague Brad Rogers. Relevant posts include:

Cracking down on Uber would come at a high cost to the Qld community

Should Qld taxi plate owners be compensated for the recent disruption to the taxi industry? (guest post by Rod Bogaards)

Queensland taxi licences and drunken violence (at BJR Economics)