Taxis holding Dublin to ransom

[peemac]

Not content to causing major traffic issues in the past couple of week on an already congested city, Dublin Taxi drivers are now planning a full week of protests next week.

Over a dispute with a PRIVATE firm!

So major disruption to their own customers and the general public because they have an issue with a private firm. There will be missed flights, missed medical appointments, frayed tempers, loss of work and family time and all because they are in dispute with a private firm that they don't even have to work with


"How to win friends and influence people" is obviously not something they understand.

 

[Purple]

It's about the regulator not regulating. They taxi drivers don't want Uber to be allowed to offer fixed (lower) fares. I agree with them.

 

[peemac]

It's about the regulator not regulating. They taxi drivers don't want Uber to be allowed to offer fixed (lower) fares.

Regulator sets maximum fares. (which are fairly high)

There's no regulation to say a taxi can't offer a lower fare. There's also no requirement for a taxi driver to sign up to the uber app.

To bring the city to a standstill is just nuts.

 

[Purple]

Regulator sets maximum fares. (which are fairly high)

There's no regulation to say a taxi can't offer a lower fare. There's also no requirement for a taxi driver to sign up to the uber app.

To bring the city to a standstill is just nuts.

I don't want to sound like a socialist but in a heavily regulated sector it's not unreasonable that the drivers ask for the regulator to also regulate a large multinational which can, if let, exert a high level of control over the sector.

 

[peemac]

but in a heavily regulated sector it's not unreasonable that the drivers ask for the regulator to also regulate a large multinational

Many areas are regulated heavily - you don't see phone companies cause issues when they face low price competition or banks causing issues when fintechs move in.

Taxi drivers called wolf when new plates were issued - they said it would destroy the industry. It didn't. It thrived.
They have many areas to get business, Bolt, Freenow, Pick up in street, taxi ranks, private contact and Uber.

I remember Aer Lingus saying it would be their deathnell when Ryanair came in and created competition. Newspapers said the same about the internet, not realising it actually saved them

My guess is UBER will work a way where a lower fare can be got in off peak period and a higher fare in peak periods. Taxis currently complain they are sitting idle for much of the day. - My guess is it is because they ae too expensive and other alternatives are available for not too much extra time.

Bring in a lower off peak fixed fare and you suddenly have a potential large extra cohort of customers. Yeh, they might end up earning a net €10-€12 an hour for that couple of hours, but they are earning where they might be sitting at a rank doing nothing. The car and insurance is a fixed cost, so its literally the fuel cost and time that they are essentially looking to cover.

Frankly, if I were a taxi owner, it would make sense.

 

[redstar]

Whatever the dispute is between taxis, UBER and regulator, can't they just stop accepting bookings via the UBER app. and only FreeNow.

It makes NO sense to disrupt a city where the biggest impact is on people not involved in the dispute. How would they explain to someone not involved in the dispute who misses a flight or a medical appointment because they have clogged up the streets.

If they have a PR dept , they should be fired..

 

[Kev1964]

Mid November we booked a taxi via Uber to take two passengers and luggage from Leopardstown to Dublin airport at 04:30. The fixed price was c€60 with an ETA that suggested taking the longer driving route (shorter time) via the M50. We had been used to paying €50 with a local friendly taxi driver (Tesla) but who since retired.

The diver was punctual arriving in an electric vehicle. We noticed that the meter was running with a start price of €8. The driver wanted to take the shorter distance route via the city but when we pointed out the expected ETA he agreed to go via the M50. We watched the toll count upwards with another €4 being added for the toll.

The final tally was in excess of €90. Luckily for us we had an agreed price but it certainly informed us going forward to get an agreement on price beforehand. Whether we use Uber or not.

Having said that it does feel wrong when these types of companies come in and erode (sometime) narrow margins for hard working small businesses eg Food delivery companies. If it results in more business maybe it cancels out.

I’m also not sure that a business group can or should have leverage to force the government to protect it. It will be interesting to see how it works out but I have a feeling that Uber will be here to stay.

 

[Purple]

I’m also not sure that a business group can or should have leverage to force the government to protect it.

Farmers; nearly 80% of some farm incomes are handouts/subsidies.
Hospitality sector: low VAT rate.
I'm sure there are many more.