Tech

Uber Close to Deal for Partnership With San Francisco Taxi Outfit


SAN FRANCISCO – Uber’s plan to attract more taxis to its platform over the next few years may soon take another big step.

The company is close to finalizing a deal with its San Francisco partner, Flywheel Technologies, to allow Uber passengers in the city to hail a taxi through the Uber app, according to four people familiar with the matter and the agency’s video presentation. the city’s transportation authority. was seen by The New York Times.

The next step is for the City of San Francisco Transportation Authority board of directors to approve adjustments to the pilot program at its April 5 meeting. The city’s director of transportation will then need to authorize rights, paving the way for Uber and Flywheel, which operate an app used by hundreds of San Francisco taxi drivers across several taxi companies to accept rides.

The deal, after a similar partnership between Uber and New York City taxi companies was announced last week, will mark an abrupt departure after years of fierce fighting between the two groups. If approved by regulators, the partnership in San Francisco could begin as early as May.

Uber has called the taxi industry corrupt and greedy, and a taxi company in San Francisco sued Uber in federal court, alleging predatory pricing practices. Some taxi drivers are opposing the idea of ​​a partnership, worried that it will lead to lower incomes and make it harder for longtime taxi customers to get a reasonable ride.

The deal is particularly surprising because San Francisco, Uber’s home town, is among a group of cities that have at times resisted Uber’s business. Uber, along with other companies that use contract workers, like Lyft and DoorDash, support California’s Proposition 22, a measure that gives contract workers some limited benefits but prohibits them from being considered. is a full-time employee. Although the measure passed statewide in 2020, before a judge threw it out last yearSan Francisco is one of the few counties with a majority of voters opposed.

In recent years, Uber has had partnerships with taxi firms, most of which are outside the United States. The company said in February that it added 122,000 taxis to its platform last year.

The taxi industry was losing customers to ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft even before the pandemic drastically reduced demand for commuting. The number of taxis in operation fell to 400 – from 1,300 – before recovering to 600, the City’s Transport Authority said. Partnering with Uber could give taxi drivers access to a much larger group of customers, while Uber will get a supply in the form of hundreds of taxi drivers.

Last year, San Francisco approved a pilot program that allows passengers who book taxis with the app to receive a guaranteed up-front cost, similar to how Uber and Lyft work. The aim is to help taxi drivers make more money, in part by combating the phenomenon known as meter anxiety – the idea that it’s uncomfortable to watch the cost of a ride increase over time. on the taxi meter, causing the driver to cancel or avoid calling a taxi in the first place. The required upfront cost is equal to the cost of the trip if metered.

Now Uber wants to join this experiment, with a twist: If San Francisco approves so-called “third-party dispatch services” like Uber joins, the upfront cost Uber charges customers to ride Taxis through their app will not be required like a paid taxi ride. That means they can charge the same price as a regular UberX ride, often cheaper than a taxi ride.

That has some taxi drivers in San Francisco concerned that they will be offered cheap rides for just a few dollars. Others worry that the price increase – when Uber raises fares at times of high demand – could keep existing low-income taxi customers from having to ride.

“That’s not true,” said Evelyn Engel, an executive board member at the San Francisco Taxi Workers Union, which advocates for taxi drivers. She said she and other taxi drivers had heard from the city’s transportation authority about Uber’s participation in the pilot program.

“Uber will attract hundreds of full-time drivers on their platform, but taxi drivers ‘won’t even be paid a per-trip fee to lead a decent life,'” Ms Engel said.

Muwaffaq Mustafa, 53, who has been a taxi driver for decades and now also runs operations for Flywheel Taxi – the company that sued Uber – said he thinks the partnership with Uber will enrich the businesses. taxi drivers and can help save a faltering industry. Slightly cheaper trips will be offset by greater demand, he said.

Mr. Mustafa said: “I am optimistic that if this agreement is successful, we will make up for the years that have gone down. “More calls, more value, and it gets more money.”

George Lama, 60, a taxi driver in San Francisco for 20 years, says cooperation is needed because passengers now completely ignore taxis. He waited outside the hotel in a line of taxi drivers to pick people up, he said, but they ordered Ubers instead.

“No one looks at us because they think Uber is faster, has a bigger fleet, is cheaper,” said Lama.

In December, Hansu Kim, president and co-owner of taxi-hailing app Flywheel, told a panel at a conference of traffic regulators that the taxi industry’s approach to technology is like “terrorists” long is still in the asphalt pit”. and that he’s talking to Uber to help taxi drivers reach out to ride-sharing customers.

“If we don’t make this technology our standard, we will continue to be marginalized,” Kim said in a video of the meeting, seen by The Times.

Uber can benefit from this partnership by reaching out to hundreds of potential drivers; Although they said they have seen the number of drivers rise again in recent months after many left during the height of the pandemic, many drivers still complain of low incomes and a lack of income. Some said they dropped the platform or started driving less as gas prices rose.

The city’s Transport Authority said taxi drivers would also benefit. “The taxi industry is taking advantage of Uber’s large ridership and driving that towards the taxi industry,” Forest Barnes, a transportation planner for the company, told taxi drivers during a call recent Zoom meeting seen by The Times.

If taxi drivers make more money through partnerships, it could encourage some hailing drivers to consider operating taxis instead. However, some taxi drivers are balking at the merger.

Marcelo Fonseca, 62, said he would rather “drive an empty car” than take part as a passenger driver for Uber or Lyft. “My ethics, morals and principles would never allow me to be a part of that,” he said.



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