Uber launched in Wagga on Thursday and Owen Sandy, 44, was ready to hit the road. 

Mr Sandy has been in Wagga for 12 months and previously worked as a wholesale-retail manager. 

“I went into it for the flexibility, to balance family commitments,” he said. 

“The sign up took some time, requiring documents from a lot of different departments for Uber. Driving records, criminal check, car insurance and roadworthy certificate.”

Mr Sandy wasn’t bothered by the multiple steps required and said it’s good as it ensures that drivers are qualified and car standards are high and safe.

“We’ll see how we go – if it goes well, I’ll commit to it full time,” he said. 

Mr Sandy said competition is important in any business as it gives people the opportunity to shop for different styles of customer delivery and service.

“I think there are two different demographics between Uber and taxis users,” he said. “A lot of younger people uses smartphones will use Uber and the traditional users will still use taxis as they’re comfortable with that.” 

Whether Uber takes off in Wagga remains to be seen, Mr Sandy said. 

“For me as well, there’s a lot of unknowns because I haven’t done it before,” he said. 

“It’s an app-driven service so as long as the app works, it should be okay. We just need riders.”

Natalie Malligan, head of cities for Uber, said they have been overwhelmed by positive responses.

“It’s really exciting as we’ve been following social media and some of the news and seeing friends tagging each other,” she said. 

Ms Malligan has no concerns specific to Wagga, saying it would likely follow the same pattern that has occurred across other cities Uber operates in.

“Often when we enter a city for the first time, not everyone is familiar with our service and how we complement existing infrastructure,” she said. 

“We see questions about the checks we place on our system and what these mean for other operators.

“From our experience, we start off with a small group of drivers and riders that grows and grows.

“Over time, the service will become more and more reliable and wait times reduced.”

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