SYDNEY AIRPORT T3: Uber pickup zone moves closer to terminal

If you have ordered an Uber to collect you from Sydney Airport T3 – the Qantas terminal, you have had to trudge quite a way, across roadways and through carparks to get to the pickup area.

From Thursday, 21 December, you won’t need to do this any longer because the pickup zone is being moved adjacent to the existing Taxi pickup zone. Sydney Airport hopes this will reduce congestion and also thinks it will have an effect on traffic at T2.

Rideshare operators other than Uber will still use the old pick-up area, illustrated by the purple car tokens on the right of the image below.

Uber now more popular than taxis

Although taxis are still important to the airport, Uber is dominating rideshare usage, hence the partnership with the airport that has facilitated this pickup area relocation:

“Rideshare now accounts for nearly 40 percent of all pickups at the airport, up from just 7 percent in 2016, so it’s important that we continue to evolve our services in line with shifting passenger preferences.

“Longer-term, we would like to roll out a kerbside pickup zone at our T2 domestic terminal. In the meantime, T2 passengers accessing Uber rides via the existing Priority Pickup area should have a much better experience, with congestion in that area set to come down by more than a third.

Kenn Langcake, Sydney Airport’s Head of Commercial Transport

If you are still using a limousine or private hire car to pick you up at the airport, then from 18 December, you will need to meet your driver about 80 metres further east along Shiers Avenue than you did before – about 1 minute’s walk further than the current location.

2PAXfly Takeout

Partly due to the old location of the Uber pick-up area, I still use taxis to get from the airport to home. I hadn’t fancied that long walk, fearing that the Uber might get there before me. Silly, I know, as the alternative is waiting for the unpredictable supply of Taxi’s at the rank.

I will no longer have that excuse. Time to convert to ordering my Uber as I walk from the arrival gate to the terminal exit.

I am always conflicted about using Uber. In the main, they provide a far better service, cleanliness and convenience than taxis, and they are cheaper. However, I don’t think they pay their drivers well enough, and the lack of workers rights in the gig economy concerns me.

Is it just me who worries about this sort of thing, or do you, too, have concerns about using rideshare companies?