Taxi Driver Online

Another piece from the DC Thomson publishing stable largely based on booking experiences with Uber. Or non-booking experiences, as the case usually is in this genre

To be fair, this is interesting enough, but the bigger issue from our perspective is that this effectively confirms that Uber have been even less successful in recruiting cars than in Aberdeen, and it seems that so far their total is zero...

And, also, although it's not directly mentioned in here, it seems that Dundee has joined Glasgow in capping PHVs, thus the second city in the UK to do so after Glasgow



Why is Uber claiming to run taxis in Dundee?

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/52 ... is-dundee/

Uber has still not launched in Dundee, despite telling online customers the service is available.

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/52 ... is-dundee/

Taxi giant Uber is still not operating in Dundee, a year after getting a licence – despite claiming on its website that it is.

Councillors approved the firm’s plans to operate an office from the Flour Mill complex in June last year.

It was believed Uber’s arrival in Dundee would see a major shake-up in the taxi industry.

The ride-hailing service initially planned to be up and running in late 2024.

However, the start of 2025 came and went, and Uber was nowhere to be seen.

One year since the licence was approved, Uber has still not launched in Dundee, despite telling online customers the service IS available.

What happens when you try to book an Uber in Dundee?

According to a dedicated Dundee section on the Uber website, the company is already operating in the city.

In a frequently asked questions section of the page, one question says: “Is Uber available in Dundee?”

The answer says: “Yes. The Uber app gives you the power to request a ride to get around Dundee anytime, 24/7.”

It even tells visitors to the page that those without a car can get around in Dundee by opening the Uber app to request a driver in Dundee.

When trying to book a journey, the service gives the appearance of letting customers book a ride in Dundee and displays a price.

The Courier tried to book a ride from Albert Square to the V&A – a journey priced at £4.87.

It only gave UberX as an option – the most common and basic ride option; however, it also stated that “UberX is unavailable”.

The Courier ran a similar test in Glasgow, from Queen Street railway station to the King’s Theatre.

During this test, the site gave us several ride options at various price points, including Exec (high-end cars with top-rated drivers) and UberXL (for rides for groups of up to six).

Additionally, the map allowed us to see active drivers in the area, unlike in Dundee.

Most importantly, it gave us the option to request a journey.

Uber app imposes pending charge for Dundee trip

Meanwhile, when trying to book a journey on the app, the service allows users to request a journey in Dundee and starts “finding drivers nearby”.

At this stage, the app even imposes a pending charge on the user for the journey.

When The Courier tried the app for a trip from Dundee to Broughty Ferry, a charge of £14.14 appeared as pending on our journalist’s bank account.

The app continued to search for a driver for several minutes before telling us the service was “busier than usual”.

Eventually, the search timed out and stated: “UberX is currently unavailable.”

The pending charge for the journey was quickly refunded.

The Courier has tried to book similar rides in Dundee on several occasions over the last year, but on each occasion, after going through the above process, we have been told the service is unavailable.

What is Uber saying about its plans in Dundee?

Uber has been contacted by The Courier for an update on its plans on numerous occasions since it was granted the licence, as we seek to find out when its service will formally launch in Dundee.

The firm has failed to respond to us each time.

We did manage to make contact with one Uber representative last week, but our queries to that individual have since gone unanswered.

Councillor Stewart Hunter, Dundee City Council’s licensing convener, told The Courier he is not aware of any movement from Uber since it gained its licence.

He told us he is “not aware” of whether the firm has secured any vehicles or drivers yet.

Uber teething issues in Aberdeen

Uber was also granted a licence to bring its ride-hailing service to Aberdeen in June 2024, but the launch in the north-east was not without its issues.

The company were forced to hit the brakes on driver recruitment after a legal challenge.

Uber finally launched in the Granite City at the end of October 2024, however, the service has struggled to get off the ground.

The Courier’s sister title, The Press and Journal, revealed last month how Uber has a shortage of licensed drivers, with the company citing Aberdeen City Council’s onerous street knowledge test as the reason for this.

Uber’s efforts to get up and running in Dundee also appear to have stalled so far.


(Some graphics here, which are largely the usual screengrabs of the Uber booking app. But no surprises for concluding that the first image isn't genuine, and on the Courier's website is credited to a photo agency. I mean, even ignoring Dundee, would that rooflight be allowed anywhere in the UK?

Not sure if there are PH rooflights allowed anywhere in Scotland, actually...)

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The above is really just a slightly more elaborate version of this below from January. Although last time round Uber provided the usual boilerplate response.

This time they don't even seem to have responded at all


viewtopic.php?f=2&t=41098

I think they are concentrating on getting the Aberdeen street knowledge test scrapped before taking on the Dundee knowledge test.

This is quite a balanced and insightful article for a change, particularly coming from the DC Thomson publishing stable, thus the sister publication of the Press & Journal in Aberdeen

And she's bang on about the Dundee legacy trade and cards etc - to an extent you have to move with the times, and keep up with the competition rather than just sit on the ranks moaning about it

Of course, there's the usual errors about the licensing stuff - makes it sound like Uber doesn't need the same badges as the Dundee trade. Or maybe she's been reading about Wolverhampton, and thinks they can ship drivers up to here from down there

(And, of course, there's the usual ride-sharing/ride-hailing stuff.)

But, of course, the badge thing is precisely why Uber can't get drivers in either Dundee or Aberdeen...


REBECCA BAIRD: Does Dundee really need Uber – or just better taxi services?

https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/opinion ... -services/

As Uber claims to be active in Dundee, Rebecca Baird considers the long-term impact of the ride-hailing service on the city.

Uber has a lot of things going for it that Dundee’s taxis don’t.

Factors such as:

• An agreed cost before getting in the car, meaning no nasty surprises at the journey’s end
• An app with GPS, so instead of waiting at a rank, you can order a car to any location, anytime, whether you know the address or not
• The ability to pay by card via the app, instead of relying on cash

make the ride-hailing app appear a welcome competitor to Dundee’s taxi companies.

And last week, when The Courier reported that Uber is still not active in the city despite claiming to have the service here on their app, several readers commented in favour of the prospect of an alternative to taxis.

As someone who has often been frustrated with the reluctance of Dundee taxi companies to move into the 21st century, I can see why.

In Glasgow or Edinburgh, you can hop into just about any taxi knowing you can pay contactless.

Here, you can walk along a full rank asking “do you take card?” and be denied by every taxi there, sometimes with a dirty look thrown in as if you’ve caused offence by asking.

That’s fine for folk who are prepared and have cash safely stowed on their person. But the truth is, rightly or wrongly, most people don’t carry cash nowadays.

First world problems for sure, but it’s a bad look for Dundee nonetheless.

If we’re purporting to be a major player on the world scene, we need to keep up.

Is Uber really going to make rides cheaper?

And certainly, the arrival of Uber on Dundee’s roads might force the existing taxi companies to adapt in order to compete.

But beyond that one benefit, I’m not convinced that Uber is an overall good thing for Dundee.

First of all, in a city whose population already struggles significantly with low wages and poverty, a gig-economy business like Uber could do more financial harm than good.

Unlike taxi services, where drivers are self-employed workers, there’s been controversy over Uber’s policy that drivers are “contractors”.

This distinction has caused issues around national minimum wage entitlement and holidays.

Plus, Uber has the luxury of offering lower prices than taxi firms, which helps the consumer short-term.

But this could lead to taxis being potentially driven out of business.

And then what’s to stop them hiking up the costs of fares again once they have a monopoly on the city?

Think Uber reduces traffic? Think again

Secondly, when Uber moves into a city, it doesn’t reduce congestion, as it purports to do.

Instead, there’s evidence to suggest ride-sharing services actually worsen already-heavy traffic, by incentivising people to hail convenient and easy Uber cars instead of walking or using public transport.

To invite Uber into Dundee seems to go against everything the city has been trying to achieve by bringing in the LEZ.

And if more people start using Uber instead of taking buses or trains, that weakens the case for improved public transport services, which Tayside desperately needs.

Local knowledge is priceless

Finally, despite my bugbears with Dundee’s taxis, there’s no denying that our local drivers have a wealth of knowledge and experience which you can’t put a price on.

They have to pass a Knowledge Test in order to get their licenses; Uber drivers do not.

They also have more extensive background checks than Uber drivers since they’re tied to the council, for those weighing up passenger safety.

And if we’re to become the “destination city” that we’re aiming towards, drivers with extensive local knowledge – the best restaurants, unmissable sights, hidden gems – are key to the tourist experience, which boosts local businesses too.

Overall, I’m urging caution to those chomping at the bit to download the Uber app.

Healthy competition is good – but sometimes, better the driver the you know.