Paying cab drivers cash incentives to pick up early-morning passengers from Sydney trouble spots has boosted pick-up rates almost threefold, according to taxi-booking app goCatch.
In a month-long trial, goCatch paid drivers up to $20 a trip to take fares between 1am and 4am at weekends from central Sydney and Kings Cross.
Pick-up rates during the trial were 170 per cent higher than in an equivalent period in November when no bonuses were on offer, goCatch says.
Co-founder Andrew Campbell plans to present the full findings to NSW Transport Minister Gladys Berejiklian at a meeting on March 11.
He will propose the government begin handing late-night revellers discounted taxi vouchers.
"The current NSW government plan is heavily weighted towards providing extra busses with little consideration for taxis despite clear evidence that taxi vouchers reduce alcohol-related crime.
"This is all about ensuring people get home safely, rather than wandering the streets with a belly full of grog."
"The government can generate large gains in public safety for minimum expense."
Taxi driver Belal Hossain, 33, who earned the most in bonuses during the trial, said many cabbies avoided trouble spots such as Kings Cross and The Rocks.
"At night-time, especially Friday and Saturday, sometimes it is very dangerous and you don't know the people you are picking up."
GoCatch is a free app for Android and iOS that allows users to book a taxi directly with a driver and to see the location of taxis on their phones.
