On Tuesday night, a woman who usually delivers fast food to Sydney homes drove me from the Opera House to my apartment in Surry Hills for a measly $7.10. I didn't know this woman prior to her driving me home in the Suzuki Swift she owns. Rather I used a new feature in the taxi and private hire car app Uber, due to be rolled out to others soon, to request she pick me up.

"Keo", as she is known in the app, has been picking up dozens of people over the past five days while driving on Sydney's inner-city roads after responding to a job ad from Uber on Seek. Similar ads appear on Facebook, Gumtree and other sites for drivers in Sydney and other cities.

Uber Sydney general manager David Rohrsheim says Australians want "ridesharing". Credit:Louise Kennerley

Keo is not a licensed taxi driver, nor is her car a limousine with licensed hire car number plates. Instead she is a regular licence holder who has been vetted by Uber employees to ferry me around at "low-cost" rates, rates far lower than what a traditional Sydney taxi charges.

Until now, Uber, which has $US250 million in backing from Google, has only let Australian users ride in taxis and private hire cars in Sydney and Melbourne. It only recently began quietly branching out into the "ridesharing" market to let anyone ferry users around who is 24 years old, has their own car that has at least four doors and is a 2005 model or newer, has comprehensive insurance, no criminal record and a licence.