A statewide labour crisis affecting the taxi and rideshare industry is seeing people opting to sleep in cars after a night out. A state minister was also forced to walk from the airport as taxi companies have struggled to recruit drivers.
The driver shortage is being felt throughout the Queensland regions but is significantly amplified outside 9-5 hours and on weekends.
Neve Munro, 22, moved back to her home town in Mackay earlier this year after graduating from university in Brisbane.
"I've slept in my car after a night out just because we've tried [unsuccessfully] to get a taxi, two separate times," Ms Munro said.
"And then what are you going to do? You can't drive home."
Some of Ms Munro's friends have flagged down strangers in taxis to "beg to be taken home".
In Mackay, many venues close at 3am, forcing hundreds of intoxicated partygoers out onto the street and into the central taxi line.
"The scariest part is when it comes to the end of the night," Ms Munro said.
"Standing in the taxi rank for hours and hours with drunk people is also a kind of scary situation.
"You see fights and arguments all the time."
In Mackay Magistrates Court, it is common to hear drink-drivers citing the lack of available taxis as a reason for getting behind the wheel.
Like many regional towns, Mackay's population is spread across a large land area with limited public transport options and an even smaller availability of rideshare services.
Mayor doubles as chauffeur
Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson has taken it upon himself to personally chauffeur friends and strangers home after nights out.
Mr Williamson regularly sees people waiting for "hours and hours" outside the Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre after concerts and large events.
"My wife and I have driven home many, many people after functions that we've been to," he said.
"We've actually met a lot of good people [doing it]."
But Mr Williamson said the region's lack of taxis was a serious problem given its plans to become a Queensland epicentre for conferences and sporting events.
Western Australia's Minister for Development arrived in Mackay at midnight on a delayed flight for the recent Northern Australia Development Conference.
"There were no taxis. He actually walked into town," Mr Williamson said.
"He gave me stick, but he was good about it because … it's happening everywhere."
Driver shortages
Alf Intelisano, Taxi Council Queensland's Mackay manager, said the issue was not a lack of taxis, but rather a shortage of drivers.
He said the shortage was being felt particularly hard in the early mornings, evenings and weekends.
"It's getting people who want to do those hours outside that nine-to-five, that's our big struggle and that's a big struggle right up the region," Mr Intelisano said.
"You talk to people in Townsville, Rockhampton, Cairns — it's all pretty much the same."
Mr Intelisano said before COVID, migrants and students made up a large cohort of drivers who were eager to take on the shifts outside of office hours.
"Mackay is a real victim of its own success," he said.
"There's so much work here that everyone is struggling to get [workers] to work for them."
An additional obstacle to getting workers is Mackay's tight housing market.
"I've advertised nationally in a magazine and we did get some people from Sydney who wanted to come up to Mackay but, unfortunately, [they] couldn't find anywhere to rent at a reasonable price," he said.
"How we got here in a space for two and a half years, I just don't know."
Mr Intelisano said he would welcome an additional 60 full-time drivers in Mackay on top of the 200 part-time and full-time drivers currently employed.
He hopes immigration can be encouraged at a federal level to help replenish the supply of workers.
But in the meantime, Mr Intelisano encourages taxi users to allow additional time for pick-ups and not to order multiple taxis if the first one does not appear.
Mr Williamson said there was no easy solution.
He said the council would need to assess whether offering transportation was an appropriate use of ratepayer funds, and whether private enterprises in the CBD could be encouraged to help transport patrons home safely.
