Last but not least: private cab via smartphone
In various European cities, taxi drivers have protested against competition from ride-hailing services like Uber. This is because these services allow private individuals to offer rides via a smartphone app, which are usually cheaper than standard local taxi fares.
The drivers wanted to express their displeasure with services where private individuals can hire themselves out as drivers. This business is conducted via smartphone. The cab operators consider the competition to be unfair because the strict regulations for their industry do not apply there. A representative of the US transport union presented a letter to the Washington city council during the action on Wednesday. The letter called for a temporary ban on competing services until new regulations are passed.
The focus of the outrage is the Californian company Uber, which now offers its services in 128 cities in 37 countries - including Zurich. Among other things, it offers private individuals the opportunity to offer rides via a smartphone app, which are generally significantly cheaper than the local cab fares.
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Uber users were thus reminded by the protests that there is a cheaper ride service than a cab ride. The rest were made aware of this by Uber itself. Uber responded to the protest in Washington with a mass e-mail advertising campaign to its users. Uber also responded to the Europe-wide day of action by cab drivers on June 11 by calling on stranded cab customers to use its services instead. Despite all understanding for the anger and concern of cab drivers, Uber knows how to make clever use of the free attention. (uma/SDA)
