The theatre of the absurd

We hear a lot of calls for unity within the taxi and private hire sector. Industry leaders, big operators, trade bodies and anyone else with an interest in the sector is usually ready with the fine words. United we stand, divided we fall. And so on.

In reality, there is very little unity within this most fragmented, fractious business. The Black Cabs hate the private hire operators. They both hate the ride-hailing apps. Drivers are kicked around by operators, unions and activists who claim to be on their side, but often deliver results that suit nobody but themselves.

Does “worker” status really improve the lot of a freelance driver? And has the supreme court’s ruling on Uber not created a whole new raft of unresolved issues, such as who is paying when a driver is waiting for a job from a number of platforms?

In the past few days, we’ve seen the theatre of the absurd played out on the streets of Oxford (above), where what purported to be a group of concerned local drivers and operators were protesting about Uber. Not because it was operating in the city – but precisely the opposite. They were protesting because it wasn’t.

Run that past me again? We’ve said this before, but a number of seemingly sensible people in the industry seemed to lose their minds over Uber’s takeover of Autocab. We’ve reported it all here in Professional Driver – we present all sides of the story, so you can make up your minds.

And frankly, given our history of dealings with Uber in the past, we have as much, if not more reason than operators to be suspicious of the company. It has never truly played by the rules; indeed, its policy has often been to tear up the rule book and replace it with one it has written for itself.

Yet. Something has clearly changed within Uber. It’s no less ambitious, and it certainly isn’t intending to level the playing field on which it operates, but the Oxford situation is clearly not normal.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that Uber won’t be launching direct services in other UK towns. It’s now four years since it last did this, and the current approach is to use Autocab users to carry out the work.

This might not suit all the operators in Oxford. At the moment, it only suits one operator, 001 Taxis. But nobody can complain that Uber is taking work from local companies. It’s giving all its work in Oxford to a local company. As far as Oxford is concerned, Uber is merely a platform, like CMAC or Karhoo. Or a travel platform such as Expedia – which is where Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi used to work.

So why was there a protest? Clearly 001 Taxis’ rival operators are not happy that they are losing work. In particular, they see Uber’s ability to promote the service as giving the ride-hailer and its partner taxi firm an unfair advantage. They have a point, but that’s business.

But they’re not the ones taking to the streets. Instead, we are seeing a manifestation of an ugly and rather personal battle between two dispatch systems companies. Where is it heading? Who knows. Uber has been remarkably restrained over the issue. But noisy protests do seem to be quite effective – see the success of Messrs Farrar and Islam in forcing the worker status agenda through the courts. I suspect we haven’t seen the last of it.

Will protests against Uber giving work to selected operators prove as effective? Unlikely. It’s hard to see that Uber is doing anything wrong here. Ultimately the proof will be in the pudding. How are operators getting on with those Uber local Cab jobs? Is it positive or not?

Early signs are that it is bringing in work, and proving effective to help operators that have signed up to recruit new drivers – a chronic problem across the industry right now, and a clear example of how a united front might be able to bring about a better outcome for everyone.

Mark Bursa Editor markbursa@prodrivermags.com