Taxi Driver Online

Almost didn't bother with this either, apart from what's in the thread title.

But doesn't take long to read this, and the rest of it is classic Uber spiel from day one.


Red tape to blame for Christmas taxi shortages - Uber

https://www.newstalk.com/news/red-tape- ... er-1406949

Red tape is to blame for the shortage of taxi drivers this Christmas season, the head of Uber Ireland has said. 

The number of taxi drivers plummeted during the pandemic with many quitting the industry for good as work dried up. 

Currently, there are 19,000 taxi drivers nationwide - whereas a decade ago there were 27,000. 

Uber Ireland head Kieran Harte said that the problem is not something other countries are experiencing. 

“It’s actually really unique to Ireland, where the numbers in the taxi industry are dropping so much,” he told The Pat Kenny Show. 

“So we’re actually seeing in other comparable international markets, the numbers of drivers and vehicles entering the industry and growing and we have seen that for some time.”

The NTA requires that applicants pass an Area Knowledge Module for the county they wish to work in - something Mr Harte described as unnecessary. 

“Many drivers who do want to only work on pre-booked trips, who don’t want to necessarily work as taxis and pick up off the street, they also find it quite challenging when they’re asked to complete the same area knowledge that a taxi driver would - even though all their trips would be pre-booked,” he said.

When Uber say 'red tape', what they actually mean is safety checks and balances.

Same old Uber, money first safety last.

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IDFIMH

Which reminds me, meant to say that another reason for posting the article is that it's a while since I've seen the term 'red tape'.

A term that used to be quite widely used, but seems to have fallen out of favour in recent years.

But Sussex is bang on here - while there's no doubt plenty red tape as regards regulating the trade, what Uber is referring to is reasonably basic safety and quality control