Car and ride share company Uber has enjoyed explosive growth in Australia recently, especially with their latest offering UberX. If you haven’t used it yet, basically, UberX puts normal folk like you and I behind the wheel to help get people where they want to go safely, in comfort and using exciting new technology. SOme of the best features of Uber are the GPS showing you how far your driver is from arrival, time to arrival, fare estimates and now the ability to control the music.

That’s why I was frustrated in seeing a big beefy former British police officer coming to Australia and performing citizen arrests on unsuspecting UberX driver on the Sydney Morning Herald website. Congratulations Russell Howarth, you’re really putting your learned intimidation skills to good use by making a complete fool of yourself.

The reason I’ve chosen to write this is off my own bat and because of the direct benefits that UberX has had on the entertainment industry in our surrounding society. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that Australia’s taxi industry has for too long been a monopoly of overpriced, unprofessional cab rides, and that people have been looking for alternatives, especially people working odd hours, like DJs and producers who tend to run the late night circuit made harder thanks to New South Wales lockout laws.

Why you should try UberX out (if you haven’t already):
1. Having DJd for a number of years in Kings Cross, the cab fare on UberX is much more reasonably priced. From Newtown to Kings Cross is $16. In a normal cab, it’s $28. Paying about $60 for a smelly cab would normally eat up almost half my salary from DJing. That’s a saving of almost $30.
2. The drivers look after their cars. It doesn’t stink of sweat and doesn’t have a man spending majority of his time talking on the phone or driving like a fucking lunatic. Taxi drivers have nothing at stake and for that reason, they don’t care about the customer.
3. You rate the driver! With UberX, or any other kind of Uber, you get to give the driver a score out of 5 for their services (and they can rate the customer too!) This will often see the driver go beyond their call of duty to provide you the best service. Take for instance, in my experiences, the Mentos and tissues available, or even reading material to keep you entertained, comfortable and time filled.
4. There’s no 10% surcharge for credit card fees. This has been one of the biggest cases of daylight robbery to date.
5. There’s no awkward and expected ‘tip’. “WOW it took you 30 minutes to drive me down the roads, and now I have to tip you a dollar when I could have walked faster.” All payments are sorted through card. No bull.
5. UberX drivers are police checked. Oh, the irony in the SMH article. Uber drivers have to perform a mandatory police clearance check, before a fool like Russell Howarth feels the need to perform a stupid citizens arrest.

It’s not just us, though. Perth duo Slumberjack are one of many acts who praise UberX, telling us “We use em all da time! 5/5 errrtam” with more having weighed in with big statements including “LOVE IT” and “Big fan.” Easy to see it’s providing something that works!

Imagine if former British police officer Russell Howarth fought something that was for the good of people, rather than his own first world vendetta? Maybe he ought to visit Liberia and realise life is in fact pretty good in this neck of the woods.

State governments around the country have set up systems of licensing that make the price of a taxi plate extremely expensive. So rather than aiming your fire at the UberX, Russell, maybe you should encourage the taxi industry to take aim at the government.

Heads up: this isn’t a paid editorial or anything of the sort, just showing the Government that UberX is a-ok by us and a lot of DJs!