Go Buggy was founded by Simon Robinson, who was a former Uber driver. He said he was looking forward to a strong marriage with Port Macquarie.

“At the moment we have three drivers, with more coming on board,” he said.

We will aim for around 15 drivers by Christmas. There is work in it and we are certainly looking for people.

“People receive the drivers name, registration plate and time of arrival. Every trip is tracked. It’s a very safe system and our drivers go through an intensive screening for the job.”

Coffs Harbour immediately embraced the service and Mr Robinson believes they will have the same success in Port Macquarie.

“We are now the preferred supplier in Coffs and found that local businesses have backed us, so much so that most pubs and clubs don’t use taxis anymore,” he said.

“We officially started four weeks ago, and are slowly rolling out.”

An exciting initiative the service offers is an ordering button, which will be located in licensed premises all over town.

The button allows the venue to book a Go Buggy for a patron, who will be able to track their driver.

“We’re just really looking forward to forming a good marriage with Port Macquarie particularly leading into, and after, the holiday period,” Mr Robinson said.

Go Buggy has been highly endorsed by the Hastings Liquor Accord, especially leading into the holiday period.

“In regional areas where we have venues a fair distance apart, some in remote locations, the more transport in our region the better,” president of the accord, Alistair Flower, said.

“We’ve worked very hard with licensed premises to get courtesy busses and things like that up and operating, and this will add to those services.

“We communicate and do a lot with Port Taxis, who have been great, but now an Uber-style service with 15 cars by Christmas is only (going to be) a great thing for our local area.

“It will allow people to enjoy our licensed premises without worrying about how they’re getting home later.”