Taxi Driver Online

This is actually from the end of March

And obviously a good bit of overlap with other pieces, but pretty sure this one isn't on here...


Uber says there is enough trade in Glasgow to allow for more drivers

https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/250 ... w-drivers/

UBER said there is enough trade for the private hire industry if Glasgow City Council decides to scrap the cap on licences.

The council is consulting on the overprovision cap that limits the number of private hire cars to 3450 and taxis to 1420.

The global firm, which moved into the Glasgow market in 2015, is backing calls for the cap to be scrapped to allow more drivers to be available.

The Scottish Private Hire Association has said there is not enough custom for the current number of drivers and is against any moves to remove the cap or increase it.

Uber, speaking to the Glasgow Times, said there is a huge unmet demand.

Matt Freckelton, Uber's Head of Cities in the UK, said: “We think there's enough business to go around.

“Glasgow is the only city that's got a cap. Other cities have looked into it, the UK Competition and Markets Authority have found caps to be unnecessary, as have the UK Department of Transport.

“There have been other caps globally and wherever they've come in, they've always been removed at a later date.”

Mr Freckelton said there are differences between the Uber market and the traditional local customer base.

Yesterday, the Glasgow Times reported Uber said it had tens of thousands of unfulfilled requests last year.

He added: “I would say it’s probably a market dynamic thing if people are choosing to use the Uber product over using another company in Glasgow.

“Glasgow has an airport and has a lot of tourists visiting.

“Uber, in my opinion, really comes into its own when you're travelling to a foreign country and you may be not comfortable getting into a vehicle that you don't know, don't know the local language, you don't know the currency, but you can just load up the Uber app, say exactly where you want to go in your own native language and then someone comes to pick you up.

“So we're probably seeing a lot of international travellers coming into Glasgow on holiday or on business, choosing to use our product over another company.”

Age, is also he said a factor in choice.

He said: “I think there's a general shifting demographic change in terms of how people want to access a private hire product with a much younger generation coming in.

“They don't say let's get a taxi, they'll say let's, let's get an Uber and then there's a large student population in Glasgow.

“And that's just what they're used to, using our product, maybe over someone else's product.”

The reason the cap is being looked at is nighttime economy businesses in the city centre raised concerns that a lack of cars was putting people off coming into town.

Uber said while it can’t compel drivers to work at certain times or locations, market dynamics will ensure demand is met if there is enough supply.

Mr Freckelton said: “The relationship we have with our drivers is they are classed as workers under employment law, so they get guaranteed national living wage, pension and holiday pay.

“They're not direct employees, so we can't tell them you've got to do a shift for example 9am in the morning to 12 noon.

“We have a team called the marketplace team where we can pull various levers to run incentives.

“So, if there is high demand but low supply, we can run an incentive for those drivers to come out where they can then earn more money.

“And we've been doing some of that behind the scenes for the last year but every driver is different.

“Some drivers are working full time, some of them are working part time, might be caring for a loved one and they happen to go out and do a couple of hours during the day.

Well nobody's claiming you're holding a gun to people's heads




Only thing I can think of is that he's talking specifically about private hire caps or similar sectors in overseas jurisdictions. But I think the average reader would either be given the wrong impression by the sentence above, or in the context of the industry more widely they'd know it's complete bollox


Pity that's the only reason it's being looked at


Not sure if something's been lost in the translation there, but that's a bit like saying that there will be no passengers waiting at a taxi rank if there are enough taxis there. So it's really just stating the absolute obvious rather than anything else


Euphemism alert - I think by 'levers and incentives' he means significantly higher fares, aka surge-pricing


Oh aye, it's that gig economy thing. Never seen that in the trade before. Except for noticing all that during my first week in the Dundee trade nearly 30 years ago. Not to mention the three decades thereafter


You mean more drivers who'll work nights and weekends? Isn't it great how Uber's being portrayed as having reinvented the wheel, but the reality is that it's just same old, same old for people in the trade, but the difference is that it's all done via algorithms, and by tech bros who haven't had to work their way up the trade

(It's basically a more dynamic version of what's historically been called T2, or even T3, weekend or 'party' tariffs, or whatever. I mean, basically incentivising drivers to work late/unsocial hours etc.)