Ever since the Platform Drivers’ Alliance was established, reporters have been asking me, its spokesman, why I do not go and work as a taxi driver. Ministry of Transportation and Communications officials have a similar mindset.
Whenever they receive criticism for driving Uber out of the market and depriving its drivers of their livelihoods, they answer: “Uber drivers will not be out of work. They can drive diversified taxis instead.”
It is frustrating and saddening to hear this kind of answer from officials who are supposed to have their fingers on the pulse of the industry, because it reveals their complete lack of understanding about why online ride-hailing platforms are the inevitable future of the transport business.
Let me explain to the ministry officials why their suggestion that platform drivers should become diversified taxi drivers is irresponsible.
First, the ministry’s diversified taxi program is a poor imitation of an online ride-hailing platform.
The ministry proposed the program in 2016 to force Uber into submission. However, two years later, there are just over 1,000 diversified taxi drivers.
The program is plainly ineffective, but why, when the government expected the diversified taxi program to be a “Taiwanese Uber,” did it end up being a “loser” instead?
It is because rigid, outdated taxi laws and regulations, along with taxi fleets’ outmoded technology, have got in the way of flexible fares and deprived drivers of their right to choose.
Ride-hailing platforms make effective use of big data. They allocate rides fairly and provide safeguards for drivers and passengers alike.
Uber has sparked a worldwide renewal in the transport business. Of course, this is partly due to the platform’s technological advantages. Uber has about 3 million users in Taiwan and in just two years it has gained nearly 200,000 users in the Greater Taipei region alone.
Ride-hailing platforms keep track of real-time demand for rides, use cellphone apps to guide drivers to high-demand areas and efficiently match them up with nearby passengers or those who are going the same way as the driver.
This means that drivers can be paired up with the next passenger even before the current one leaves their vehicle.
Using this technological platform, drivers can get on with the job of driving their vehicles and serving their passengers.
Apart from the commission that the platform deducts from the fare, drivers have no other fees to worry about. They do not need to calculate credit card commissions or trip commissions.
They do not need to drive around looking for customers. There is no need to curry favor with taxi fleets or fight over territories, nor do they need to worry about whether trips are long or short.
Everything is decided by the platform technology. The fee is fixed when a customer climbs into the vehicle, so even if the vehicle’s satellite navigation system guides the driver to take a roundabout route, the customer need not worry that the driver will demand a higher fare.
Why do platform drivers not want to be taxi drivers? It is because they do not want to be tied to one taxi fleet or constrained by old mindsets.
Likewise, the government should not to be tied up and constrained. Laws and regulations should be amended to merge with the operational ambiguity that the Internet creates and provide for independent regulation of online vehicle booking.
A new category of “online booked diversified vehicle” should be added, instead of forcing everyone to become taxi drivers.
Well Lee is the spokesman of the Platform Drivers’ Alliance.
Translated by Julian Clegg
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