Anti-Uber Taxi Protest Blocks Access to Paris’s Roissy Airport
bloomberg.comI feel that every time this issue gets discussed, it needs to have some background information provided, because quite frankly, taxi drivers in France suck.
From my own personal experience, I have had the following incidents: 1) a taxi driver that took me the long way round from a train station to my home. Thinking I was a tourist, because of my accent, he basically tried to take me for a ride thinking I wouldn't notice. That lifted the bill by 50% compared to the usual price.
2) A taxi driver in Marseille that wouldn't finish the trip until I gave him my phone number. My choice was to either get out in the middle of one of the roughest neighbourhoods of Marseille and try and find another taxi, or hand over my phone number (which he verified by calling me on it before continuing) - I had to change my phone number after that one.
3) Countless occassions of having taxis refusing to take me as a customer because I wanted to go to a part of the city they didn't want to go to. One particular occassion struck me as bad - I had the car door open and one foot off the ground when he realised where I wanted to go and took off. Considering I was a lone 35-yr old woman at the time, dressed in a business suit, he obviously wasn't worrying about his safety.
4) I have a friend who actually works in the Boers (mentioned in the article). When I'm out with him, he won't let me get into a taxi until he's checked the guy's (most taxi drivers are men, and on the rare occassion I've had a female driver, they have been nothing but professional - make of that what you will) papers and flashed his badge to keep the driver on his best behaviour).
5) If I move my grievances out to people one removed from me (ie people I personally know), you can add in a guy getting physically hauled out of a taxi and beaten by the driver because the driver didn't want to go where he wanted, another guy getting hit by a taxi when walking across a pedestrian crossing, only to have the taxi driver get out of his vehicule, abuse and kick said friend for slowing him down, and then driving off, and a taxi that took off with a friend's luggage in the boot, which he never got back.
So yeah, I have about zero sympathy for French taxi drivers - the sooner they're run out of business, the better. Their latest behaviour has just confirmed for me that I won't ever be using one again if I can avoid it.
In Greece we have a solution for this, as old as Uber but that works with the taxi drivers instead against them.
Taxibeat is an app you can use to call taxis from your smartphone. You may choose which taxi you want from the list of nearby drivers. For every driver you see his/her name, plates number, car, reviews, whether he permits pets, speaks foreign languages, has wifi, permits smoking, can help people with disabilities etc. Also you can pay with paypal or credit card.
When you take a ride, taxibeat's driver app essentially monitors the ride.
What's interesting is that since the taxi drivers that choose to work with taxibeat know what a smartphone is, know about reviews etc, they are in general very professional and I never had any issues with them, in contrast with the rest. Of course that they are accountable to a company that takes seriously its name, also helps.
The idea went so well that now we have a competitor too, taxiplon, which also works with phone calls.
I'll try next time I go to Greece, thanks for the tip. I was amazed at how cheap and easy to find taxi are in Greece. Add the evaluation on top of that (with the app you mention) : all problems solved without Uber's help. You need to put some pressure on taxis to get a correct service, either competition or evaluation (= competition with peers). Otherwise you end up with France's situation.
This. I don't understand how the French Taxi lobbies cannot try and copy Uber's app for themselves. If I was a taxi I would LONG for a way to simplify the user's experience.
Uber's app is just the missing link. I don't understand how you still have to order a taxi with a phone call in 2015.
They probably don't want to have to deal with customer reviews. For most drivers, user's experience is pretty low on their priority list.
Ireland has something similar with Hailo. It's an absolute godsend.
I used the service a couple of times to give my girlfriend a ride. I wanted to know car + driver and monitor the ride in real time. Other than a driver hitting on her - not aggressively though - the experience was smooth.
I hope you gave him a bad rating. No matter the job, professionals should keep it professional.
In Greece it is very common for the driver to engage in small talk with his clients but there must be limits. Once I had an independent driver (not associated with any company) recounting —without me asking— his adventures as a client in the sex industry.
This is my problem with taxi drivers all over the world. They are essentially anonymous. When you get in a taxi, you're betting on someone you've never met, have no ratings for, have no assurances.
I paid by card for a taxi journey back after a night out drinking here in the UK. The next day I discovered that he'd added more than 25% on as an admin fee, but by that time, there was no way of me easily tracking him down.
I'll be happy when all shuttle services are peer reviewed.
On a side note, why are the taxi drivers allowed to block access to an airport? If members of the public did this then surely there would be action to remove the people and their vehicles? What makes taxi drivers immune to this?
It's effective because they're inside vehicles. If the general public protested from inside vehicles, you'd get the same thing. Of course, numbers matter too.
That's spot on.
The best part: Uber is managing to address problems people have been wanting to address for decades but been unable to, as those strikes can be politically devastating.
I bet the government is privately patting themselves on the back that a nice, foreign entity is willing to take the heat and provide the hammers for taxi drivers to keep driving those nails deeper into their own coffins.
When a taxi driver gang is beating up an UberPOP driver or burning his car after turning it over, the average French citizen is seeing himself, an average dude just trying to sweeten his end of month by driving people around, and the commercial dispute becomes a crusade of the right of the common man versus a gang of uncontrollable bullies. Well played Uber, amazing PR.
I live in Pittsburgh and the situation isn't much better. Taxi service effectively doesn't exist here. One newspaper wrote a "review" of sorts of Pittsburgh Yellow Cab and found that, for the most part, they wouldn't take you anywhere put the airport. The author would call them, ask for a ride to the airport, get a cab at his door immediately, then change his destination once he got in the car. They made him get out of the car every time.
Everyone I know who lived here before Uber/Lyft has a story about going out to the bars, calling a taxi, waiting two hours for it to come, and ending up walking two more hours home because the taxi never arrived. And I'm sure many more people have had the same experience and simple chosen to drive drunk. It's quite literally a publicly safety issue. Luckily Uber and Lyft came along two years ago and are now operating legally.
The #1 thing we've all learned from this debacle is that many, many cab companies are the scum of the earth. To be fair, though, some are still good. In Chicago, for example, you can hail a cab without even trying. You can go to the bathroom and find a cab waiting for you in the toilet. They are everywhere, they are reasonably priced, and they know the city a hell of a lot better than most Uber drivers. They continue to thrive because they are full time professionals who provide a better service than Uber and Lyft. That's a lesson the drivers in Paris and Pittsburgh need to learn.
> The #1 thing we've all learned from this debacle is that many, many cab companies are the scum of the earth.
Given the "god view" incident and the "let's follow journalists" incident, that's something that Uber didn't disrupt.
Sounds like cabs need "body" cameras (interior cams that can't be turned off?) as much as cops do. It's an unbelievable shame, and a really terrible indictment of cab drivers' ability to do their job professionally.
I always thought the cabs in Philly were bad. Apparently they're decent, comparatively.
> I always thought the cabs in Philly were bad. Apparently they're decent, comparatively.
I also have a laundry list of complaints about Philly cabs, but I've never been anywhere where I felt the cabs were definitively better. Compared to some of the other things on this thread, my most consistent complaints are relatively minor (won't take credit cards, don't have the AC on, etc.) At least they are omnipresent, and never say no to my destination. Almost every time I call for an Uber an open cab rolls by first. If Uber shortened their cancellation window, I probably wouldn't even try to use it at all.
>Sounds like cabs need "body" cameras (interior cams that can't be turned off?) as much as cops do.
That's what Paris needs, from the sound of it. Pittsburgh just needs competition, which we now have. The cabs haven't gotten any better, though. They still effectively don't exist, I almost never see one, and as far as I know they continue to almost exclusively serve the airport...probably because, until recently, Uber and Lyft weren't allowed to pick up riders from the airport. Maybe Yellow Cab will start improving their service now? But I doubt it.
Exactly the same kind of experience as you would get in Poland. Fuck the taxi drivers.
Does Uber actually solve any of these problems?
Yes. The customers rate the drivers, so the bad ones are weeded out.
There is only one problem: anonymity. Yes, it does.
Arguably it could make them worse, there is a reason taxi drivers are licensed in most developed countries.
Never had a bad experience with Uber. I heard they ruthlessly cut any driver with anything but good ratings.
Well drivers in Uber are generally paid less, so more incentive for them to make up for it in other ways.
Whatever reason that is doesn't seem to be working :)
The other week I was in LA on business and I took a taxi to my hotel. If taxis in Paris are anything like there, no wonder Uber is so popular...
The hotel was about 5 miles from LAX. First the taxi driver suggested I might be able to take a shuttle bus (I had just landed after a 16 hour flight and didn't want to figure out and wait however long for that) and after persuasion agreed to take me. He had no idea where the household-name hotel was, so I had to give him directions from Google Maps. For that 10 minute trip I paid $25 + tip.
On the way back I took UberX, the driver was a lot friendlier and even helped to find which terminal I needed as I had no idea. Total price $6.50. I gave him a five stars and $10 tip as he was great.
Why would you even tip a taxi driver who needs to be persuaded to take you and needs your (Google maps) directions?
Uber being available in Paris was one of the greatest thing to happen for tourists and residents alike. I agree with the general sentiment, Taxis in France are some of the worst taxis I've used. I've had a lot of bad experiences. And lest you think it's due to racism or because they thought I was a tourist (not that this would excuse their behaviour one iota), I'm French and I was born in Paris.
I can understand the financial hardship brought by Uber and the frustration with the license prices but as a group, they have not endeared themselves to me and none of my friends have generally positive experiences with them.
It's high time a service like Uber which penalises drivers for bad experience exists.
It is worth knowing that even though the licenses are limited, the gouvernement gave them all for free, it is the taxis themselves that created some kind of mafia bullshit selling it back 200k euros.
Also not very a response but Uber is kinda of fucking every laws aswell so even though the service is better and cheaper, so is my Nike made by children, it does not mean we need to make children work again for peanuts.
Yeah, I'm basically on the same page as you. I can't say I really enjoy using taxis in Paris (although I don't have any nightmare stories like other people in this thread, mostly minor annoyances like refusing to take credit cards and some general rudeness).
On the other hand having services like uber breaking regulations might end up making taxis less safe and with a worse quality of service down the line as prices keep plunging due to the heavy unregulated competition.
I think the right move would be to open the market while still heavily regulating them but I don't know how the government can convince the taxi drivers to accept that since it would mean losing their super expensive license. I suppose the government could buy the licenses itself but that would be heinously expensive (and as a tax payer I can't say I would really like that).
I really wish the government wouldn't have allowed for this license market to exist in the first place, it was obviously going to create a cartel.
The taxis unions threaten the government with strikes and airport blockades every time the topic of opening the licenses comes to the table. The mafia is strong.
If you believe that and care, either stop buying nikes and stop taking uber or start petitioning your government to change or implement laws. Personally Uber being made legal is something I would consider a reasonable issue for a politician to take a stand on one way or another. If you live somewhere with elected officials, consider these things when voting.
It's weird that racism seems to be a common theme\complaint about taxi drivers in many countries. The stereotype of the racist cab driver - usually a loud guy oversharing some opinions about black\indian\romanian immigrants - is pretty ingrained in the UK psyche, and many people I know have had to endure awkward and cringeworthy conversations in black cabs.
The education level of the average taxi driver is usually not very high and racism is not evenly distributed among educated and not very educated people.
So even if there's 20-25% of people voting FN (the racist party) in France, the percentage of people with a relatively lower level of education is much higher.
And the other aspect of this is that people tend to not often talk with people of lower socio-economic level so talking to Taxi driver is one of the few occasions where people end up talking with people with drastically different level. (The same effect also happens in Hair Salons).
Uber seems the problem everywhere Taxi market is highly regulated. Uber operates also in Warsaw, this was a news for a day or two, but later nothing really happened.
In Poland Taxi market is almost non-regulated. Taxi driver must pass medical examination, both physical and mental health is checked, plus there are a few other reasonable requirements.
As a result of this, in Warsaw there are more then 20 Taxi corporations, plus Uber, plus independent taxi drivers.
The interesting thing is that prices vary quite a lot, since corporations are not competing over prices only. Some corporations have fancy cars, some corporations are more available during high traffic hours.
Taxis offer also side services - if you run out of alcohol during party, the taxi driver can get one for you in 10 min. You have a car, went to bar, drunk to much to drive - no problem, taxi will arrive with another driver, who will drive your car home.
I understand that governments are regulating explosives production, but why the hell they mess with something so simple as driving people from place A to B is beyond my imagination.
As someone quipped on Twitter, "soon enough postmen will block access to office buildings nationwide to protest the widespread use of email".
You may joke I know that a few years ago the CWU (Postal Union) in the UK used to mail floppy disks with paper work to branches rather than send emails.
Courtney Love Cobain :
"they've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. they're beating the cars with metal bats. this is France?? I'm safer in Baghdad"
Is it my impression only that Taxis in Paris are so shitty that anything is über, even ones with rusty Lada and 15 minutes of training?
When a taxi driver feels justified in beating up a customer rather than servicing them, you know you're dealing with just another Mafia. Being exposed to market forces is certainly not comfortable but the sorry state of taxi services shows how economic sectors degrade when you shield them from market forces. They even forget how to act in the interest of self-preservation.
Good news everybody!
The taxi geniuses even beat up an uber _customer_ for daring to use uber instead of being content with NOT using a taxi, as thee taxis were on strike! Well done!
If this was a joke, I wouldn't believe it! Comedy gold!
France, where we'll protest anything that challenges the status quo.
How is that different from anywhere else where an industry is governed if not protected by government regulation? At one time regulation was meant to give some sense of guarantee of safe and reliable service, now it has become a method to prevent competition.
The number of industries in the United States which are regulated is staggering, I can only imagine the same is true elsewhere. Regulating industries is a good idea but not if it prevents competition. Regulation is meant to protect the consumer, not the business from competition and the need to maintain if not improve service.
There is really something special about France (and I would reckon some other former superpowers of the past). Because we used to be great and we're not anymore, slowly drifting into world oblivion, there is a quite toxic tendency to cling to that past in the form of excessive conservatism. In that mindset, any change is perceived as an additional step away from that past greatness which is an integral and important part of the "collective consciousness". As such, anything that changes the status quo frightens that part of us thinking that we're still a dominant world power. That is why we still push the French language hard (dubbing movies, forcing a 50% ratio of French music on the radio, having a national academy to enforce the purity of our language), why we've been beefing with the English and the American on many topics. That issue is systemic and is extremely detrimental in our collective progress to a better future.
This is the precise root of what has been described as the inherent French melancholia. And this is why Uber is a problem here, even though most French people would recognize it's a great service that actually brings something much needed to the table.
Apparently they're attacking Uber/Uber like cars they find on their way: https://twitter.com/imnotalone/status/613961119766609920
What i don't get is that ultimately, forcing all taxi drivers to work through systems like uber, could prove better for everyone in the long run, including the state. No more fraud ( how many times did the drivers forced you to pay in cash), so more taxes collected and easier monitoring of the overall taxi profession.
Having centralized live tracking of every aspect of the taxi service actually make things easier to regulate, not harder.
I have been cheated by taxi drivers in every city where I lived for more than a few weeks. I am 100% in support of Uber.
Interesting note. To counter, I have lived longer times in just two cities, Helsinki and Beijing, and in neither one was I ever cheated by a taxi driver.
Stories about bad Beijing taxis were everywhere, but they do not reflect my experience. I used taxis on a daily basis for well over a year, and never had the driver try to cheat (the worst experience being that a Xiali with no air conditioning is not fun in the summer). This might have something to do with myself being about 30 cm taller and 40 kg heavier than the average Beijing taxi driver. The drivers might refuse to drive to the suburbs because they can't get a paying ride back, though. But that's upfront refusal, not cheating.
In Helsinki (or Finland in general), the taxis are not cheap but they are very reliable. You could give them your wallet and keys and pass out at the backseat, and find yourself in your bed in the morning, with your money left, minus ride price, and a receipt.
Stockholm, on the other hand, is Wild West, particularly regarding pricing. Check, really, before you take a ride.
Paris experiences: nobody suggests just flagging a random taxi, everyone recommends to call a known company. When I've flagged a random taxi, the service has been unenthusiastic but not disastrous.
Berlin/generally Germany experiences: very good and reliable.
U.S. experiences: how the F am I supposed to know what is the right amount to tip? That is infuriating. I just avoid anything where the tipping rules are not clear.
Why, does Uber have some sort of guarantee that you are not getting ripped off? How do they address the problem? (I am genuinely asking, not trying to post a rhetorical question)
Actually yes. You're emailed a receipt with a map that includes the route you took. If you have any complaints, you can email them and they'll usually adjust your rate.
(I don't know if that's a formal guarantee but it's my experience)
And if the gps "isn't working"? I can see it could be easily gamed.
This dispatch app IS the gps. If it doesn't work they don't get jobs/paid.
Also you generally enter your destination into your phone before ever getting in the car. The company usually knows which account holder is riding, who is driving, which car, and where they're all going at the time the ride begins.
It seems I was lucky in France, no majorly bad taxi drivers
Or, you know, just get the bus, it's cheaper (not always possible, I know)
But yeah, it seems they just began digging their own grave.
Meanwhile in "technology driven" Germany Uber has been banned
According to another article it appears the taxi drivers use of violence and road blocks has worked, the France Interior minister has banned UberPop from use in the city and enforced by the police.
The verge article stated that costs for licenses can be nearly quarter million. How is that even remotely reasonable to anyone?
I don't think it's going out on a limb to say there is obviously some under the table collusion going on here.
Well, that tactic ought to end well for the taxi drivers.