Bunbury Taxis in plea for loyalty ahead of rideshare service Ola’s regional launch

Rideshare giant Ola will launch in Bunbury in the coming weeks, but Bunbury Taxis is appealing to the community to support a local service.

The launch is part of Ola’s regional expansion and will include Busselton along with 16 other regional cities across Australia.

A Bunbury Taxis spokeswoman called for users to support taxi drivers.

“We’re a local company, we employ local people,” she said.

She argued there would not be more drivers in Bunbury with Ola, rather the same rideshare drivers as before but with an additional sticker on their car.

Ola said it was actively recruiting drivers in the Bunbury area.

Uber is currently the only rideshare service available in Bunbury and Ola Australia and New Zealand managing director Simon Smith said they were looking forward to bringing Ola to regional communities.

Offering services in Bunbury and the surrounding region will bring more competition and choice to rideshare users and drivers in the area.

“We want to offer drivers in the area the opportunity to make more money on their own schedule — whether it’s driving on the weekend, during morning and evening commutes or just in their spare time,” Mr Smith said.

The Bunbury Taxis spokeswoman said rideshare drivers already impacted taxi drivers on Friday and Saturday nights.

“If they’re impacted too much they will lose their jobs and Bunbury won’t have taxis when they’re needed,” she said.

The spokeswoman encouraged users to support taxi drivers who drove for a living rather than people who drove casually on the weekend.

We have heaps of loyal customers, but the majority of the public doesn't realise what will happen if we close down.

She said Bunbury Taxis was the only 24/7 car service for the Bunbury community.

“If we don’t use taxis and we suffer then we’ll close down and when we shut down there’ll be no 24/7 car service in Bunbury.”

She said Bunbury Taxis had been “doing it tough” because of government restrictions and regulations but they supported the Bunbury community.

“If we don’t provide a good service to regular customers they won’t use us and we’re still here,” she said.