Uber NZ – October Partner Update

Richard here, General Manager for Uber in New Zealand.

I took my first ride with Uber 3 years ago, and I’ve been amazed at some of the positive changes we’ve seen since then. In this newsletter I wanted to let you know about some of the recent initiatives that have been keeping our team busy as we continue to improve the Uber platform for driver-partners here in Aotearoa.

Government commitment to improving regulations

One month ago the Government introduced a bill to Parliament that, among other things, reforms small passenger services in New Zealand. This bill still needs to go through a Select Committee review process, so it will take time to come into effect, but it is an important step in the right direction.

Under the proposed new legislation small passenger service drivers, including ridesharing driver-partners on the Uber platform, will need to hold a P-Endorsement. However, the Government proposes to remove the P-Endorsement training course, abolish driving tests, and will not require ridesharing driver partners hold a Passenger Service License. All up, these changes could save drivers across the industry around $1,200 compared to the existing, outdated taxi licensing framework.

The Government has also said it is committed to speeding up the licensing process to make it easier for drivers to get on the road.

We congratulate Minister Bridges’ commitment to sensible regulations for ridesharing. There are still important details to work through, but we look forward to working with the Government on these in the coming months.

At this stage, nothing changes for you out there on the road, but we will keep you posted on any updates on the proposed changes that will impact you as a driver-partner with Uber.

MOVENZ

This month we’ve been running a campaign to encourage more Kiwis to use Uber to and from public transport stations. To do this, we’ve been offering 20% off trips that begin or end at designated bus and train stations in Auckland and Wellington! The campaign has gone well so far, and it’s a great opportunity for us to work with the Government to share the results and show how Uber can help improve transport networks in New Zealand.

You can find out more about MOVENZ HERE.

Partner Roundtables

In our last update, I let you know that we had begun partner roundtables. These are sessions we run with partners like you to get detailed feedback on your experiences with Uber. Roundtables are invaluable to help us deliver a product that works even better for you. We’re seeing some great discussions on a wide range of topics such as the partner app, the ratings system and our promotional programs.

We’ll continue to open up these roundtable opportunities to different groups of partners for each session. In the meantime, please feel free to submit ideas in the Suggestion Box form at the end of this email, as I’d love to hear your feedback.

Riders can now request their trip in advance

One feature that has been consistently requested by partners at roundtables has been the ability for riders to pre-request rides using the Uber platform.

We appreciate that some riders (such as business travelers) may want to plan ahead and request rides in advance. Increasing the number of riders on the Uber platform is a major priority for the team in New Zealand, and you will have seen we were recently very proud to announce that riders can now pre-arrange pickups. This feature enables riders to input a desired pick-up time into the app and, shortly before that time, the ride request will be made for them.

Currently this feature is available in some of the busiest areas of Auckland and Wellington and we will look to extend the availability of this awesome new feature over time.

You can see more on how it works HERE.

WhyIDrive

From grandparents to entrepreneurs, everyone has their reasons to get behind the wheel. We’ve been sharing some of your stories with the rest of New Zealand this past month, and it is these stories of diversity that sum up why I love spending time with Uber partners so much.

The team is always looking for opportunities to meet and mingle and hear more of your amazing stories, and we’re excited to celebrate the festival of Diwali in your backyard – hopefully you saw the recent invitations sent via email. Make sure to RSVP, I’d love to see you there!

In the meantime, if you haven’t seen our recent partner stories make sure you check them out HERE .

Our busiest season is just around the corner

I can’t believe it’s that time of year again! Every year from October onwards we start to see a large increase in the number of weekly trip requests, as riders start to enjoy the summer and holiday season.

Here in New Zealand we want to help increase trip requests even more as we head into summer, so this month when riders invite a friend to join Uber and that friend signs up and takes their first trip, we’ll be giving both the rider and the rider’s friend $10 off two rides, instead of our usual offer of $10 off one ride each.

Back in July we provided a similar offer which saw us invest more than $1 million NZD across New Zealand and Australia and resulted in tens of thousands of riders signing up to use Uber for the first time. This month we’re expecting to see some great results once again, so stay tuned.

Something we’ve missed?

If you have any other feedback on how the app could work better, please let us know HERE, or drop into one of our three Green Light Hubs to speak with our team — simply visit our Uber Movement website and select your city for Green Light Hub times and locations.

Regards,

Richard
General Manager, Uber New Zealand