I RISE to support in principle the Passenger Transport (Point to Point Transport Services) Amendment Bill. As a regional MP, I have significant interest in the limited access to public transport services currently, and how rideshare could diversify to service what I would consider an ailing need for the people in Chaffey.
Chaffey is about three hours from Adelaide and it has enormous deficiencies when it comes to public transport. We have a skeleton bus service within working hours up in the Riverland. What it does is really disadvantage people from accessing public transport. The taxi industry has been of service with the limited number of taxis, as the member for Schubert (Ashton Hurn) has rightfully said. The taxi numbers are finite to service a rural setting that is quite spread out. I know myself, over a long period of time, if I want to access a cab from where I live into one of the towns it can be anywhere from $50 to $100 each way.
That is quite prohibitive for many who are looking to access health services, social activities, any day-to-day need to get around. In some instances, there are people who do not have a form of transport: they do not have a licence, they do not have a vehicle, they are somewhat socially disadvantaged, and the only way that they can get from point A to point B is by using a public amenity, and that could be a rideshare service.
Just on the front of that, the bill was introduced in the first sitting week of this year, and even though it is just a sitting week ago, it feels like they are rushing through this legislation without proper industry and stakeholder consultation on the bill itself. Given the very short time in which the bill was introduced and brought to debate, I am of the belief that there are a number of stakeholders who have expressed their disappointment, not only to the shadow minister but in general conversations that I have had in the last couple of weeks.
When rideshare was introduced into South Australia, it came with a number of issues. The issues have been very well explained, the taxi industry has seen a significant level of adjustment and it is now going to cost the taxpayers of South Australia a significant amount of money for that compensation. I know back then the former transport minister, Stephen Mullighan, introduced rideshare and now the transport minister, the member for West Torrens (Tom Koutsantonis), is going to compensate those taxi businesses, those plate holders, for the impact that Uber has had on them.
There has been concern regarding the bill’s removal of independent oversight, as well as the increase in ministerial authority. The bill significantly expands ministerial discretion over accreditation and licensing and, effectively, that is centralising decision-making power into the hands of the minister without a clear industry oversight or an independent review mechanism. The bill removes independent processes and places nearly all accreditation decisions under direct ministerial control, affecting booking service providers, general passenger transport services, and individual drivers. I have been in this place long enough, you have to be wary of any bill that is put into place at pace and potentially places any minister as his own policeman. That is a concern I have.
The bill proposes to open up all of South Australia to rideshare operations. The current metropolitan boundary restricts where point-to-point services can operate, limiting passenger transport options for customers outside of the Adelaide metropolitan area. The bill will also allow for rideshare to operate across South Australia in both metro and regional areas. I want to talk a little bit about the regional setting. I understand there are some vagaries at the moment about the implementation of a rideshare service. I do not need to use names, but there are a number, I think three or four rideshare services, operating here in South Australia.
Will we be able to service a sparse electorate or a sparse part of South Australia? Will there be drivers? Will there be a level of interest that will service the sector without tarnishing a brand? I think that is fair to assume. 
I am regularly asked when rideshare will be coming to the Riverland. Just two years ago, I ran a survey and it had overwhelming support. People see this as not only an opportunity to access transport services, but also an opportunity to test the viability of the market. I expect it will be welcomed by many. Regional communities and councils seem broadly supportive of the change, but in particular one brand, Uber, has flagged that it will take time to onboard drivers and ensure capacity before being rolled out in the regions.
When Uber, rideshare, was launched and announced in South Australia, I was of the view that I would support a taxi service over rideshare, but I soon became very tired of the same old, tired taxis that I hopped into. The most notable signature of an ailing taxi was that it had a whining diff, it had seats that were torn, or it was dirty and smelly. It was an unreliable service at that point in time. However, competition has come into the marketplace and it has certainly smartened up the taxi industry. It has put some competition into the place.
When I am travelling overseas, particularly when I am visiting my son and his family in the US, I regularly catch Ubers from San Francisco airport out to Modesto. Modesto is about, let’s say, two hours east of San Francisco. I hop into rideshares. The theme over there is that not every rideshare driver is a full-time driver. On their way to work, they potentially pick up a fare. If it is a short fare they might do a couple before work, and then go to work, and vice versa. A lot of people work out of regional California into the city, and that is exactly what I have found: a number of drivers that do. They pick up a driver on their way to work in the morning, and that might be from Modesto or close by – Stockton is an example, and Fresno. They will pick up someone from, for example, my son’s place at Modesto and do a two-hour drive to work, which is something they do on a day-to-day basis.
They will also do the same thing coming back. They will pick up someone from the airport and take them out to a regional centre, and that is putting diversity into their income. Sitting in a vehicle for four hours a day is usually non-productive unless you are on the phone doing your work, conversing with a customer base. But if you are not doing that, why should you not be able to look at that type of model? As I said, it really does put a little bit of diversity into an income stream.
The current cost of a cab, particularly in the Riverland, is prohibitive. As I have said, it is $50 or $100 one way for a cab fare, which makes it prohibitive. With a limited bus service it is also very hard to get around an area or around the Riverland communities, which are quite spread out. If you live in a town like Renmark and you want to travel to Loxton, it is going to cost you $100 to get to the doctor, let alone paying $100 or over $100 for the doctor’s fee. So I think we need to be able to demonstrate flexibility with this legislation and to understand how it will benefit a regional community, or someone in a regional setting who is looking to get from point A to point B.
I think the point-to-point passenger service is progress. It is something that metropolitan Adelaide has enjoyed for a number of years now. It must be approaching 10 years that we have seen this service providing, I think, a really good service. It really did show the way for people getting out and about on public amenity or public transport, providing good service, clean vehicles and reliability. I think the pay-before-you-use concept is quite valuable. It saves cash transactions, and it saves some of those who are proponents of doing the wrong thing, who see cash money and the opportunity of committing crime, from interfering with people’s public safety. I think that is something that Uber has really extinguished in many quarters.
I think this amendment bill will be an opportunity for many regional MPs to explore the opportunities that rideshare will present to their regional setting and to their communities to be able to access a transport service that they do not currently have. For many of us who do not have bus service, train service or tram service and only have a very limited taxi service, I think it really does go a very long way in evening up the ledger when it comes to getting about, visiting health professionals, making social outings and in terms of responsible driving. It really does open up great opportunities, and it opens up a better lifestyle when living in a regional setting.
It gives more opportunity for people to act responsibly. We do not like to hear of people drink driving, and we do not like to see road trauma, which we are seeing a lot of, particularly in a regional setting. That is where the majority of our road traumas are, in a regional setting. All regional roads, at some point, are at 110km/h. We are not just a 40, 50 or 60km/h zone, although in town sometimes it is.
We have to look at the bigger picture, and we have to, as I said, even up the ledger. Whether you live in the regions or whether you live in metro South Australia, I think point-to-point services, should they be implemented carefully and in a considered way, will be a coming of age for many of our regional settings.