He was the first to do it legally in Canberra, but ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is no Uber virgin.
"I must confess," he said after, unusually, having the door to a silver Toyota opened for him.
"I have used it in Sydney and Melbourne, and in San Francisco and Washington on a recent trip."
Mr Barr officially launched the controversial ride-sharing service in the nation's capital on Friday after its assembly approved legislation to regulate the sector.
It's the first jurisdiction in Australia to do so, allowing the likes of Uber, OnTap and GoCatch to operate under strict conditions and government oversight.
Drivers have to pass criminal and driving history checks, ensure proper insurance coverage and have their vehicles tested for roadworthiness.
"It's a real step forward for on-demand transport in the region," Mr Barr said.
Uber is a growing service and operates in almost 60 countries.
It allows members of the public to book and pay for rides in Uber-member vehicles using a smartphone app.
Taxi operators loathe Uber, accusing it of taking their business while not having to pay the same fees or meet the same standards.
The ACT Government has tried to appease them by immediately dropping the annual fee to lease a government-owned taxi licence from $20,000 to $10,000 and from $4600 to $100 for hire cars.
The $350 annual operator accreditation fee has also been scrapped.
Uber's general manager for Australian-New Zealand, David Rohrsheim said trips would typically be 20-30 per cent cheaper than taxis - depending on demand.
"But a lot of people choose it because it's a better experience - press a button, get a ride; that's something that's unfamiliar for a lot of people in Canberra right now," he said.
More than 100 drivers were ready to go from day one, including Peter Mackay.
The 57-year-old retired public servant worked as a cab driver for five years and decided to join Uber because he liked helping people.
"This is something I can do part-time, whenever I feel like it or whenever there's a need for it," Mr Mackay, wearing a black drivers' cap and tie, told AAP.
"It'll give me that satisfaction of getting people to where they want, which was always the thing I enjoyed most out of driving a taxi - feeling like I was doing something useful.
"The only problem there is the wife says `Why can't you be like that around the house?'"
Registration took a few months and involved a lot of paperwork and some meetings, but he respected the process, Mr Mackay said.
