THE GLOBAL TAXI NEWS SOURCE
Edition 2 | AUTUMN 2020
BATTLE FOR GLOBAL SUPREMACY OLA REFUSED RIDE HAILING
FIRMS TAKE TO THE SKY
AND TWO WHEELS
LONDON LICENCE
TAXI WARS
TURN DEADLY
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CONTENT AND EDITORIAL
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FIXED PRICED TAXIS HIT AMERICA
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TaxiPoint Chief Editor: Perry Richardson TaxiPoint Editor:
UBER MOTO COMES TO FRANCE
Michael Murphy
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TaxiPoint Publishing & Advertising Manager: Lindsey Richardson Visit us online at: www.taxipointworld.com
EHANG DIVERSITY
DIDI LANDS IN RUSSIA
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Welcome to the second edition of TaxiPoint World. Thanks to all of you who read our first edition in the Summer and we hope you enjoy our Autumn digital magazine. We would like to welcome all those who are joining us for the first time, you are now part of the worldwide taxi community. TaxiPoint World aims to keep you up to date with all the latest taxi industry related news from around the globe. No matter which side of the world you operate in, taxi drivers are facing the same day to day challenges; which is why our focus is to create a worldwide community where drivers and taxi industry enthusiasts can stay one step ahead on any taxi current affairs. If you have any news content to share with us, please get in touch via contact@taxipointworld.com. Stay safe, stay positive, and stay informed.
contact@taxipointworld.com The publishers reserve the right to refuse, withdraw, amend or otherwise deal with all advertisements without explanation. All advertisers must comply with the British Code of Advertising practice. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers.
All written and image rights are reserved by the author as displayed. Reproduction in whole or in part without prior permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. Copyright brand TaxiPoint 2020. Creative Common image licenses displayed where applicable.
Michael Murphy TaxiPoint World Editor and Licensed Taxi Driver
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NORTH AMERICA
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UPFRONT PRICING
ROLLED OUT FOR TAXIS Curb, a leading taxi app in North America, has begun its nationwide rollout of upfront pricing for licensed taxis — a landmark move for the taxi industry. The change is designed to give riders the confidence of knowing what they'll pay before their trips begin, and the feature is now available in New York City and Washington D.C., with more cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to follow. As rider habits have changed with the ubiquity of ridesharing apps, Curb has helped taxis stay relevant in an evolving transportation environment by modernizing the rider experience. By providing functionalities that riders have come to expect like ehailing, ride tracking, contactless payments—and now upfront fares—Curb is continuing to improve the taxi experience to give users a more convenient way to book and ride taxis. Amos Tamam, founder and CEO of Curb, said: "With the transportation industry changing at such a rapid pace, we are constantly updating and improving our technology for both drivers and riders.
STATESIDE "Today's consumers expect transparency, especially right now, and upfront pricing provides that.
“By working with our taxi partners to give riders the experience they want and expect, our goal is to propel more trips to drivers and help keep the industry relevant in this pivotal moment for taxis."
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NORTH AMERICA
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Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) including Uber and Lyft face increased scrutiny from regulators and public markets, taxis are seen to be in a unique position to regain market share. With its emphasis on both the rider and driver experience, Curb is looking to help licensed taxi fleets and drivers across the country meet the demands of today's consumer and thrive in a more competitive environment.
Uchitel Aleksandr, a New York City yellow taxi driver, said: "I've been driving for 20 years, so I was nervous about moving away from the meter.
"But having taken Curb's upfront fares for the last few months, I think it makes a lot of sense. I like knowing up front what I'm going to make While customers can still street-hail taxis and pay the on a trip, and I'm making more money overall metered fare with the app, Curb's upfront pricing for e through Curb." -hail trips gives riders the certainty of knowing what they will pay before they book a ride. Curb's upfront fares are dynamically priced based on live and historical trip data, including metered fares, traffic, and wait times. To ensure fair and competitive pricing for both riders and drivers, Curb's pricing algorithms were tested and fine-tuned across hundreds of thousands of trips as part of a public beta program with essential workers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, Curb has seen increased driver participation and earnings, as well as shorter wait times for e-hail passengers.
Curb also claim that upfront pricing will empower riders to compare the cost of taxis to other transportation options, something that was not before possible with metered fares. As ridesharing apps continue to strive for profitability, users of apps have seen a steady rise in rideshare prices. However, taxi prices in major markets like New York City have remained consistent, making them equal to or even lower than the cost of a comparable rideshare trip— even before factoring in surge pricing.
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GLOBAL
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 6
Image credit: TomTom
UBER AND TomTom TEAM UP TO INTEGRATE MAPS ACROSS THE RIDE-SHARING FIRM’S GLOBAL PLATFORMS TomTom, the location technology company, and ride -sharing firm Uber have teamed-up and will continue integrating TomTom’s maps, traffic data, and Maps APIs across Uber’s global platform. In addition, Uber will serve as a map editing partner to TomTom. Uber’s integration of TomTom’s data and Maps APIs will be functional in Uber apps across more than 10,000 cities around the world. TomTom said it regularly processes close to two
billion map changes per month, which they say helps it maintain the "freshest maps". Uber and TomTom have said they will also work together to ensure their mapping keeps up to date with any changes that may occur, such as new roads, turn restrictions, street closures, and more. According to TomTom, Uber will observe and report on-the-ground insights from completed trips and deliveries, while itself will use updates collected from its partners to provide more accurate map data to TomTom customers.
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GLOBAL
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“We look forward to working more closely with Uber and delivering even better location data to improve the mobility of the users of TomTom’s products everywhere,” said Anders Truelsen, Managing Director, TomTom Enterprise. “TomTom’s full suite of industry-leading datasets and services, including highly accurate maps, traffic and Maps APIs, will help any company to enhance their location-enabled solutions.”
“Accurate mapping is at the heart of Uber’s platform, which is why we’re thrilled to continue teaming up with TomTom. Our partnership will help create even more dynamic mapping experiences in our global marketplace," said Michael Weiss-Malik, Director of Product, Maps and GSS at Uber.
UBER AND BOLT REACH NEW AGREEMENT WITH LAGOS GOVERNMENT Ride-sharing operators Uber and Bolt have reached an agreement with the Lagos Government on a new set of guidelines going forward within the industry. Representatives from all three parties met in August to discuss and reach a new agreement following a public outcry by riders over an initial government announcement of new rules and regulations due to be put in place. The new agreed guidelines, effective from the start of September, include: •
There must be comprehensive insurance cover for drivers and passengers for every ride
•
A flat fee of N20 to be known as ‘Road Improvement Fund’ to be introduced and levied on each ride
•
A reduction of 20 per cent on operational fees to be introduced
•
Due diligence and background checks to be undertaken on all drivers
•
Riders and drivers are asked to desist from
offline trips and transactions •
Both firms are mandated to make all necessary data available to the Government.
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RIDE-SHARE
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 8
DIDI LANDS IN
RUSSIA Image: DiDi
Didi Chuxing (“DiDi”), one of the world’s leading mobile transportation platforms, is now offering its ride-hailing services in Russia, its first Eurasian market, as it continues to go head-to-head with its rivals such as Uber. The launch of DiDi Express in Kazan, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia is a new milestone in the company’s global expansion.
agenda in the Russian Federation. Operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary, DiDi Russia has leveraged DiDi’s global tech strengths and safety expertise to bring localized products, comprehensive safety and health features and 24/7 human support to meet the needs of Russian users, drivers and fleets.
The company intends to commit long-term DiDi already operates mobility, food and delivery investments to provide drivers with a competitive services in Australia, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, and transparent service fee structure, and riders with Chile, Colombia and Panama. safe, value-for-money, and convenient mobility International business is a pillar in DiDi’s “0188” three services. Driver recruitment began in late July and has -year growth strategy, as announced by Cheng Wei, been well received by the local driver community. DiDi’s founder and CEO, in April this year. “We look forward to building a broad partnership with Russian fleet partners and drivers to providing The number '0' signifies that safety is a priority, as better, safer and more convenient services to the DiDi say they will "continue to strive for a future public,” said Stephen Zhu, Senior Vice President and without major safety and security incidents". Head of DiDi’s International Business. The other three numbers, '188', represent completing more than 100 million daily trips globally; “We are deeply inspired by the resilience of cities and achieving an 8% penetration rate in China’s mobility the effective anti-COVID work of all dedicated DiDi teams and partners around the world. This market; and reaching 800 million monthly active experience is invaluable as we pursue new users globally. opportunities and support communities in rebuilding Tatarstan is home to Russia’s largest IT park and has their economy with better and safer transportation one of the strongest pro-innovation development services.”
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RIDE-SHARE
AUGUST 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 9
MORE FROM DIDI...
50 MILLION DAILY TRIPS REACHED The firm announced that its global daily trips reached a record high of more than 50 million on 25 August, the Chinese Valentine’s Day. The one day record number included trips from DiDi’s ride-hailing, taxihailing, Hitch (P2P commuter ridesharing), bikesharing and designated driving services. In April 2020, DiDi announced its “0188” 3-year strategy. Namely, by 2022: •
To maintain its ongoing initiative to strive for a future without major safety and security incidents;
•
To complete 100 million daily trips globally;
•
To achieve an 8% penetration rate in China’s total mobility market; and
•
To serve 800 million monthly active users globally.
DiDi now operates mobility, food and delivery services in Australia, Japan, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica, Chile, Colombia and Panama. It delivered a yearly total of over 1 billion trips in its international markets outside China in 2019. Since February 2020, DiDi has innovated a full range of its anti-COVID experience from China to its global markets with strong positive results. As its worst-hit and earliest-recovered market, DiDi China’s business rebounded to its pre-COVID level in July 2020. Image credit: DiDi
AUTONOMOUS
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Image credit: DeepRouteAI
AUTONOMOUS TAXIS TO BE DEPLOYED AT 2022 ASIAN GAMES DeepRoute, an international self-driving vehicle technology provider, and Cao Cao Mobility, a strategically invested business of Geely Technology Group who are known for producing London’s latest iconic black taxi, have announced the companies’ partnership to advance the design, development and commercialization of Cao Cao’s Level 4 autonomous robo-taxis service. The autonomous vehicles, powered by DeepRoute’s self-driving technology solution, will be deployed at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
and Geely’s vision to usher in a fully autonomous future where they believe transportation is safer and more efficient. Asian Games athletes and guests will be able to use the Cao Cao app to seamlessly hail these vehicles to get around the event sites. DeepRoute’s new, second generation sensing system, DeepRoute-Sense II, will transform Cao Cao’s fleet of electric vehicles into robo-taxis with advanced self-driving capabilities. DeepRoute’s comprehensive system provides vehicles with every component needed for Level 4 self-driving technology – including sensing, HD mapping, perception, planning and control, simulation system and cloud technology.
Cao Cao will integrate DeepRoute’s new Level 4 fullstack self-driving system, including its second generation sensing system, DeepRoute-Sense II, into its dedicated fleet of Geometry A fully electric The slim, water-resistant roof-box design for vehicles at the multisport event. The autonomous DeepRoute-Sense houses seven DeepRoute-Vision robo-taxis represent a new milestone in Cao Cao vehicle cameras, three LiDAR sensors, a global
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AUTONOMOUS
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navigation satellite system (GNSS) with two GPS antennas, and other advanced sensors. The system also integrates a telecommunication and data synchronisation controller to accurately synchronise data from the different sensors in real time. With built-in 5G support, DeepRoute-Sense gives companies the ability to remotely control vehicles so operators can take over a vehicle’s driving system if needed. Plus, 5G capabilities will be essential for future vehicle-to-vehicle communication networks in smart cities. This fully integrated design makes it easier for companies to quickly and safely test and deploy autonomous vehicle fleets around the world. Chairman of Cao Cao Mobility, Jinliang Liu, said: “Our partnership with DeepRoute reinforces our shared vision of making transportation safer, connected and accessible as we work together to
develop the highest-performing and safest autonomous vehicles. “As the chief partner of the 2022 Asian Games, we are excited to have the athletes and guests experience riding in autonomous robo-taxis, which will be the primary mode of transportation in the not-so-distant future.” Vice President of DeepRoute, added: “It is an honour to be working alongside automotive giant Geely and Cao Cao to demonstrate our innovative self-driving technologies at the upcoming 2022 Asian Games. “Our second generation DeepRoute-Sense system will help drive this new era of transportation forward with our comprehensive self-driving technologies integrated into one compact design for easy integration and deployment.”
Image credit: DeepRouteAI
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AUTONOMOUS
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 12
WAYMO DRIVERLESS GOES LIVE in 2020 being fully driverless for their exclusive group of early riders under NDA. They’ve been gathering key learnings from these riders on how to optimize their driverless service experience and continuously improve it. They also began to offer more people access to their public Waymo One service, with a vehicle operator monitoring the ride. Image credit: Waymo
Five years ago, Steve Mahan, the retired director of the Santa Clara Valley Blind Centre, who lost his sight years before, took the world's first ride in a self-driving car on public roads. This little car, called Firefly, had a top speed of just 25 mph, and used a combination of lidar, radar, cameras, and massive on-board computing power to navigate the busy streets of Austin, Texas.
On 8 October, they opened up their fully driverless offering to Waymo One riders. Members of the public service can now take friends and family along on their rides and share their experience with the world. They’ve started with those who are already a part of Waymo One and, over the next weeks and months, will welcome more people directly into the service through their app. In the near term, 100% of
Since that first ride, which some have called a Kitty Hawk moment of sorts for fully autonomous technology, Waymo has been working to bring the Waymo Driver to more and more people. In 2017, they began their early rider program in the Metro Phoenix area with the next generation of their technology, using the full-size hybrid Chrysler Pacifica. This 4th-generation Waymo Driver was significantly more sophisticated than Firefly’s technology, and for the last year, has been one of the world’s leaders in pioneering fully driverless, paid rides on high-speed roads across a service area larger than the city of San Francisco. Over time, as they improved the capability of our Waymo Driver, they increased the scope and quantity of our operations, with 5-10% of rides Image credit: Waymo
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AUTONOMOUS
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their rides will be fully driverless. Waymo have said they expect their new fully driverless service to be very popular, and are thankful to their riders for their patience as they “ramp up availability to serve demand”.
They’ve enhanced their health and safety policies and procedures throughout their fully-owned fleet, sought the feedback of their team, partners, riders, as well as federal, local, and state authorities, all while Later this year, after they’ve finished adding in-vehicle continuing to advance the Waymo Driver’s capabilities, barriers between the front row and the rear passenger the firm has said. cabin for in-vehicle hygiene and safety, they’ll also be A spokesperson for Waymo said: “To our entire comre-introducing rides with a trained vehicle operator, munity: thank you for being a part of this important which they say will add capacity and allow them to journey. And to all the Waymonauts who’ve worked so serve a larger geographical area. hard getting us here: thanks for your dedication to our mission. Together, we’re building a safe and more acWaymo say they’ve achieved this milestone with the cessible future with every autonomous mile we drive.” thought and care that their riders expect from them. Image credit: Waymo
USA
Image: LEVC
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TECHNOLOGY
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 14
FLYING TAXIS
TO FLYING FIRE ENGINES
Image: credit EHang
EHang, one of the world’s leading autonomous aerial vehicle (AAV) technology platform companies, is set to provide customers in various industries with AAV products and commercial solutions. The firm and intelligent low-altitude passenger-grade says its mission is to make “safe, autonomous and eco- autonomous aerial vehicle provides a low-altitude friendly air mobility accessible to everyone”. short-and-medium-haul transportation solution for the future intelligent transportation.” The company announced earlier this year that it intends to build the world’s first E-port for AAV services in China, to open before the close of 2020. The focus being on supplying air transportation for tourism – a taxi in the sky essentially.
The company has taken the same flight technology and adapted the craft to meet the requirements to tackle fires and emergency rescue, with the introduction of the EHang 216F firefighting drone.
As well as being one of the front runners in the world of flying taxis, EHang has now introduced a flying firefighting craft and is in the process of adding a flying ambulance to its catalogue. The company’s passenger drone, titled the EHang 216, uses electric power to reduce environmental harm caused by emission, and because of its vertical take-off capabilities, traditional infrastructure such as large airport or runway is not required. A spokesperson for the firm said: “This eco-friendly Image credit: EHang
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TECHNOLOGY
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 15
With hundreds of thousands of high-rise buildings in China, the company believes the EHang 216F can become essential equipment for thousands of fire stations across the country and eventually those around the world.
been selected to join Ambular, an international project endeavouring to develop a flying ambulance for medical emergency use.
Supported by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the project also seeks to inspire With a maximum flight altitude of 600 metres, the global aviation community to unleash the potential of eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and the 216F can carry up to 150 litres of landing) aircraft.
firefighting foams and 6 fire extinguisher bombs in a single trip.
So as we can see, EHang is not hanging around when it comes to utilising its eVTOL craft which was EHang’s Founder, Chairman and CEO, Huazhi Hu, said: originally designed for air taxi use. “We are pleased to introduce the EHang 216F AAV With many other tech and mobility firms also in the aerial firefighting solution, which solves difficult running to take to the skies to offer commuters a new challenges in high-rise firefighting. The high-rise fire way of avoiding heavy congestion on the streets use case highlights the practical application of our passenger-grade AAV platform to different smart city below, such as UK based Vertical Aerospace and ridesharing giants Uber, EHang has opted to stay a step management needs. We will explore and develop ahead of what could be a congested market, by more aerial solutions and use cases to empower keeping their propellers in a number of pies. smart cities.” But for now the taxi industry is firmly on the ground And that is exactly what they are doing, with their as there is a number of safety and regulatory most current announcement being that they have obstacles for these firms to overcome in the skies.
“Our mission? To become the world’s
foremost authority on Intelligent Aerial Vehicles, enabling safe, autonomous and eco-friendly air mobility for everyone." HUAZHI HU
FOUNDER , CHAIRMAN & CEO OF EHANG
Image credit: EHang
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FLYING TAXIS
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GE AVIATION TO DEVELOP FLIGHT DATA MONITORING PROGRAM Uber Elevate has selected GE Aviation’s Digital Group as an ecosystem partner for their aerial ridesharing program. The initial phase of the program will develop requirements for a flight data monitoring program to support electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles on the Uber platform.
to evolve. We’re able to bring our experience in digital across the travel ecosystem by helping travellers reach their destination safely and efficiently.”
The Uber Elevate team is working toward transforming the world through aerial ridesharing at scale. Initial launch of its Uber Air service is planned Andrew Coleman, General Manager of GE Aviation’s for 2023 utilising electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and Digital Group, said: “This partnership will help expand landing) aircraft in Dallas and Los Angeles. our digital innovation as the travel industry continues Image credit: RTA
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FLYING TAXIS
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“Safety is a core value for Uber Elevate – we are voluntarily implementing a safety management system and developing voluntary programs that have yielded proven safety benefits for the aviation industry,” said John Illson, Head of Aviation Safety with Uber Elevate.
world’s largest flight data bench marking programs made this partnership a natural fit for Uber Elevate, said a spokesperson for GE.
According to GE, since its introduction in the airline industry more than 20 years ago, Flight Data Monitoring has been widely credited with reducing incident and accident rates at airlines and aircraft operators where it has been adopted.
Data Monitoring is GE Aviation’s premier service for helping operators understand and improve safety. GE’s patented analytics software fuses meteorological information, navigation data, and terrain mapping to identify safety events and measurements on thousands of flights every day.
“Uber Elevate’s eVTOL ride sharing program is another groundbreaking milestone in aviation history. The eVTOL aircraft create a new ecosystem Flight Data Monitoring (FDM), is the process of for ridesharing, focusing on safety, minimizing analysing and reviewing routinely recorded flight noise, and energy efficiency,’ said Bob W. Whetsell, data. Airlines and operators that adopt Flight Data Director of Safety Programs with GE Aviation’s Monitoring are better able to identify and eliminate Digital Group. potential safety hazards in flight operations. Used by hundreds of operators worldwide, Flight
GE Aviation’s Flight Data Monitoring program and industry experience working with some of the
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PRIVATE HIRE
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 18
MINIMUM AGE REQUIREMENTS INTRODUCED FOR PHV DRIVERS IN SINGAPORE All new private hire drivers in Singapore will now have to be at least 30 years old and be Singapore citizens, as the Land Transport Authority (LTA) moves to make taxi and private hire regulations a level playing field.
drivers, with the remaining 25,000 working as private hire drivers. Changes will mean the rapid increase in private hire drivers is likely to slow, avoiding an oversaturation in the market.
Previously, both Singaporeans and permanent residents were eligible to apply for a Private Hire Driver’s Vocational Licence (PDVL), as long as they had held a driving licence for at least two years. There were no minimum age requirements applied to the regulations. The LTA announced the decision, stressing that the changes will not affect existing private hire drivers.
Mr Ang Hin Kee, Executive Advisor to the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA), said: “With private companies offering incentives, and barrier-to-entry for firms like Uber and Grab low, the number of drivers on the scene has exploded over the years. We do not need more drivers. This development levels the playing field.”
According to the LTA, Singapore has around 40,000 active drivers. 15,000 of those are traditional taxi
The changes are likely to have a knock-on effect with ride-hailing firms such as Grab.
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EUROPE-UBER
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 19
ON YOUR BIKE! UBER LAUNCH RIDE-HAILING MOTORCYCLE SERVICE IN FRANCE Image Credit: Uber
Uber has launched 'Uber Moto' in France, a new service which allows users to order a motorcycle private hire driver to transport them on journeys. Uber said they are testing the new product, which has already joined the Uber application for some of their users in the Paris region.
they disinfect all areas of contact with the passenger, prepare the equipment in advance so that the user can dress themselves and maintain a safe distance during the process. They also offer passengers disposable gloves and a hydroalcoholic gel for the passenger at the end of the trip.
Passengers, in addition to the equipment described above, receive a message before each journey reminding them to disinfect their hands, to wear an appropriate coat and mask, to throw away their Uber Moto is an option through which passengers disposable cap, gloves and masks after use. Cash can order electric motorcycle and maxi scooter rides payment is not allowed and everything happens driven by independent professional drivers directly directly from the Uber app to avoid unnecessary from the Uber app in Paris and La DĂŠfense, Neuilly contact. and Boulogne at the moment. The Uber Moto price is based on a base price and a A spokesperson for Uber said: "We have developed a price per kilometer. Dynamic pricing may apply if comprehensive health protocol to ensure the safety there are more orders than drivers available, the of drivers and users who use the Uber Moto option." company confirmed. The drivers must always wear a mask and gloves, The service is already fully functional in a number of countries across Asia, including Indonesia, India and Thailand.
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ASIA
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 20
BUTTON
UP
SHANGHAI TAXIS CAN NOW BE CALLED USING NEW ROADSIDE DEVICES Shanghai city residents can now call a taxi at the press of a button on the street by using one of the city’s many new roadside street-hail devices. The service, together with the taxi-hailing app ‘Shencheng Travel’, has been introduced by the Government and SAIC Motor to help people, such as the elderly, who may not be adept at using smartphones. Currently there are around 200 devices at busy places across the city, such as the Bund and train stations. After pressing a button at one of these points, nearby taxis receive a notification via the app and come to pick up the passengers.
difference compared with traditional ride-hailing services.
Passengers with the app can press a hailing button without inputting their destination, a major
Currently more than 100 taxi companies with a total of 20,000 taxis have registered on the platform.
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EUROPE
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 21
EUROPEAN TRANSPORT SECTOR CALLS FOR NEW EU FRAMEWORK ON THE GOVERNANCE OF DATA Representatives from road, air, maritime, rail, manufacturing and logistics sectors have called on European decision makers to adopt an EU framework on the governance of business-to business (B2B) data that ensures a level playing field for all partners in the digital economy. Following recent innovations, the transport sector now relies increasingly on the exchange of large amounts of personal and non-personal data between multiple actors. These innovations include the development of vehicles’ automated functions, connected vehicles, smart cities and digital mobility platforms. These solutions have led to an increase in data generation, with transport operators typically generating data and technology companies processing and using this data. In a joint statement sent to EU decision makers, UITP, alongside other associations representing both the freight and passenger transport sectors, call for
the establishment of an EU framework on the governance of B2B data. They say the framework should explicitly include the principle of voluntary provision of data and clarify the roles and responsibilities of data aggregators and the rights of data generators. They believe the EU should also provide guidance to standardise data formats and facilitate the interoperability of mobility platforms. The impact of digitalisation on businesses should not be underestimated, especially in the case of SMEs. For a successful digital transformation, businesses need to upskill their workforce and will require financial support if they are to benefit from the opportunities of the data economy. According to the UITP, the transport sector stands ready to cooperate with EU institutions on digitalisation issues to ensure equal opportunities for all business partners in the digital economy through fair and transparent EU regulation.
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FEATURE
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 22
CAPE TOWN TAXI WARS TIT-FOR-TAT MURDERS CONTINUE AS RIVAL FIRMS BATTLE FOR TERRITORY Image credit: Commons Wikipedia—ER24 EMS
Rivalry between firms in any industry will always bring its own level of tension, but rarely does it ever boil over to such violent conclusions as coldblooded murder and all-out war.
But this is the desperate state that taxi drivers, operators and even passengers find themselves currently in Cape Town, South Africa.
(CATA), and the Cape Organisation for the Democratic Taxi Association (CODETA). The violence is fuelled by such things as drivers being poached from one taxi organisation to go work for the other, as well as battles over which routes are allocated
In the first six months of this year alone, 43 people were brutally murdered because of the ongoing feud between rival taxi operators, with the Western Cape’s violence showing no signs of easing. Hitmen are being paid to systematically shoot dead taxi drivers, rank marshals and taxi guards, who have been assigned to protect drivers and passengers, in a deadly cycle of tit-for-tat murders. The turf war has become so overwhelming that the Western Cape Government and South African Police Service have been forced to set up a dedicated, specialised taxi violence task force to tackle the situation directly. According to the authorities, the feud is believed to stem back to an old rivalry which goes back decades, between the Cape Amalgamated Taxi Association
to each organisation by provincial transport authorities. Despite transport leaders calling meetings between both organisations’ leaders to help put an end to the bloodshed, the violence continues, with the transport authority stressing that such attempts to ease tensions are simply not working.
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FEATURE The introduction of Cape Town’s ‘MyCiti’ bus system has not helped the situation either, with more commuters encouraged to leave taxi travel and opt for the bus service instead.
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 23 police, with a total of 97 people being arrested and 40 cases currently going through court.
With the work by the Government and police forces continuing, these figures are sure to constantly The transport authority has attempted to include the change. But for now, Cape Town’s taxi wars continue taxi service in the ‘MyCiti’ system by making some to shed unnecessary blood, causing great concerns operators shareholders in the bus routes, but this left for drivers, operators and passengers on a day-tofewer permits for the other taxi operators. day basis. The decision sparked huge clashes as the remaining taxi operators argued over who should be allocated the remainder of the permits. During heated clashes in Hout Bay, five taxi drivers were brutally murdered. The main two locations plagued with such violence are Belville and Delft, but incidents have also occurred in other areas such as Paarl, Bloekombos, Ceres, Masiphumelele and Nyanga. A total of 43 people have been killed, there has been 20 attempted murder cases investigated by
Image credit - Flickr
ASIA
AUTUMN 2020 | www.taxipointworld.com | 24
SMRT TO TRANSFORM DRIVERS’ JOB EXPERIENCES WITH GRAB TECHNOLOGY
Image credit: Grab
SMRT (Singapore Mass Rapid Transit) and Grab have announced a technology partnership, aimed at streamlining SMRT taxi partners’ operations while on the road.
for their drivers once their SMRT call bookings are successfully allocated with the updated mapping tools and ride optimisation features the Grab platform offers.
An enhanced Grab driver app launched only for SMRT’s taxi partners on 1 October. Replacing the Mobile Display Units in SMRT’s taxis, the app will be rolled out fleetwide by the end of the year. The app enables SMRT drivers to manage earnings and receive jobs from across SMRT’s existing booking system, street hail and the Grab platform, all through one single app.
The enhanced Grab driver app was jointly developed by SMRT and Grab, leveraging Grab’s technology expertise and SMRT’s experience as one of the leading taxi operators in Singapore.
The bookings will be assigned to SMRT drivers using Grab’s allocation technology, which they hope will help to improve their productivity. With the app, drivers can start their taxi meter when they opt for street hail jobs, and control their rooftop signs when they have a passenger onboard. SMRT passengers can also expect a shorter waiting time
In addition, Grab has built a web-based fleet operations platform to streamline SMRT’s operational needs. SMRT and Grab have had a long-standing partnership since 2017, when it was announced that all of SMRT drivers were able to take on Grab jobs such as JustGrab and Standard Taxi. This has expanded the number of earning opportunities for them over the years. The new partnership deepens the collaboration and aims to better prepare taxi partners for an increasingly digitised marketplace.
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Mr Tan Kian Heong, President of SMRT Roads, said: “We have been working with Grab on this project for a year now. This new system will seamlessly integrate Grab’s driver app with our street hail system, providing convenience and more job opportunities to our taxi partners. At SMRT, we plan ahead to transform and be ready for the digital age. We are helping our taxi partners to learn how to use the enhanced system so that they can quickly benefit from it.” Yee Wee Tang, Managing Director of Grab Singapore, said: “To provide our driver-partners with
a best-in-class driving experience, Grab has invested heavily into our transport technology and developed many innovations such as our automated ERP calculator and emergency button under the safety centre. Many of these features go through constant refinement to ensure they are meeting our driverpartners’ needs. “We are pleased to be able to extend this technology for the first time to like-minded partners like SMRT to benefit an even wider pool of point-topoint transport drivers.”
Image: LEVC
Image credit: Flickr-Tech in Asia
CALIFORNIA PROP 22 EXPLAINED So called ‘gig’ companies like Uber and Lyft are currently challenging a new California state law which requires them to treat workers as employees. Proposition 22 has been put together by ride-hailing companies to push for them to be exempt from such law.
unemployment insurance and workers’ compensation. If prop 22 measures are passed, gig companies would instead keep workers classified as contractors and be able to offer narrower benefits, including pay at least 120% of minimum wage, care subsidies and accident insurance.
What would Prop 22 do if successfully introduced?
Ride-hailing firm Uber have been lobbying heavily to gain as much support for prop 22 as possible to assure it passes. The final outcome will be heard in November.
Since January, the new state law required former contract workers to be offered benefits such as overtime pay, health care, paid sick leave,
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Image credit: DTC
DUBAI TAXI ‘IN SAFE HANDS’ SERVICE REMAINS POPULAR DESPITE COVID-19 CHALLENGES TRTA’s Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) revealed that passenger demand for its ‘In Safe Hands’ service continued despite the challenges of COVID-19. The public uptake of the service is credited to its privacy, comfort and safety on the go for a wide spectrum of riders, especially children, students, senior citizens and residents.
generated a great response and confidence in the service amongst riders.”
Al Zarooni continued: “The service is available on regular Dubai Taxi vehicles, in addition to classy modern vehicles like Tesla, Infiniti and Lexus, within competitive service rates of 25 dirhams cost of opening the counter for all categories plus 1.86 Marwan Al Zarooni, Director of Operation and dirham per kilometre, with discounts available based Commercial Affairs, Dubai Taxi Corporation, RTA, said: on contract period. “The ‘In Safe Hands’ taxi service was launched in 2011 “The DTC seeks to develop creative solutions that to provide additional privacy and convenience to render the service both enjoyable and convenient certain segments of riders for their daily commute. while complying with the applicable rules in this The features of the service make it quite popular regard. Such efforts contribute to realising DTC’s amongst users despite the outbreak of COVID-19 as vision aiming at being pioneers in safe, reliable and the precautionary measures in place include the smart transport services.” sanitisation of both the vehicle and the driver to ensure the safety of riders. Measures taken
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OLA REFUSED OPERATOR’S LICENCE FROM LONDON REGULATOR TfL Transport for London (TfL) has refused to grant Ola a new London private hire vehicle (PHV) operator’s licence as it cannot find it fit and proper to hold one after discovering a number of failures that could have risked public safety.
Ola officially launched in London in February 2020 following its UK launch in August 2018, and operates in 27 cities in the UK and over 250 globally.
TfL regulate London's taxi and private hire trades which is designed to ensure passenger safety. As part of licensing conditions, private hire operators must meet rigorous regulations, and demonstrate to TfL that they do so, in order to operate.
Helen Chapman, TfL’s Director of Licensing, Regulation and Charging, said: “Our duty as a regulator is to ensure passenger safety. Through our investigations we discovered that flaws in Ola’s operating model have led to the use of unlicensed drivers and vehicles in more than 1,000 passenger trips, which may have put passenger safety at risk.
Ola has been operating in London since February 2020 and recently made TfL aware of a number of failures that had potential public safety consequences. These included:
“If they do appeal, Ola can continue to operate and drivers can continue to undertake bookings on behalf of Ola. We will closely scrutinise the company to ensure passengers safety is not compromised.”
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Historic breaches of the licensing regime that led to unlicensed drivers and vehicles undertaking more than 1,000 passenger trips on behalf of Ola
Marc Rozendal, Ola’s UK Managing Director: “At Ola, our core principle is to work closely, collaboratively and transparently with regulators such as TfL. We have been working with TfL during the review period • Failure to draw these breaches to TfL’s attention and have sought to provide assurances and address the issues raised in an open and transparent manner. immediately when they were first identified. "Ola will take the opportunity to appeal this decision Applicants have a right to appeal a decision not to grant a licence to a magistrates’ court within 21 days. and in doing so, our riders and drivers can rest Ola can continue to operate pending the outcome of assured that we will continue to operate as normal, providing safe and reliable mobility for London." any appeal process.
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