Uber Close to Partnership Agreement with San Francisco Taxi Outfit


SAN FRANCISCO — Uber’s plan to drive more taxis to its platform over the next few years could soon take another big step.

According to four people familiar with the matter and a video presentation by the city’s transportation agency, the company is close to finalizing an agreement with a San Francisco partner, Flywheel Technologies, to allow city Uber passengers to hail taxis via the Uber app. Viewed by The New York Times.

The next step is for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board to approve changes to a pilot program at its April 5 meeting. The city’s transportation director would then have to authorize this, paving the way for Uber and Flywheel, which run an app in San Francisco that is used by hundreds of taxi drivers to accept rides at several taxi companies.

After a similar partnership between Uber and New York’s taxi companies was announced last week, the deal would mark an abrupt departure from years of violent conflict between the two groups. If approved by regulators, the partnership in San Francisco could begin in May.

Uber has described the taxi industry as corrupt and greedy, and a San Francisco taxi company Sues Uber in federal courtaccuses him of destructive pricing practices. Some taxi drivers oppose the idea of ​​partnership, fearing that it will lead to lower earnings and make it harder for long-term taxi customers to make affordable trips.

The deal is particularly surprising because Uber’s hometown of San Francisco was among a group of cities that at times aggressively resist Uber’s business. Along with other companies that use gig workers, such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, they backed California’s Proposition 22, a measure that gave gig workers some limited benefits but prohibited them from being considered full employees. Although the measure passed statewide in 2020, before a judge threw him out last yearSan Francisco was one of the few counties where the majority of voters opposed it.

In recent years, Uber has partnered with taxi companies mostly outside the United States. The company said in February that it added 122,000 taxis to its platform last year.

The taxi industry had lost customers to ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft even before the pandemic drastically reduced travel demand. The Municipal Transport Agency said the number of taxis in operation during the pandemic had dropped to 400 – from 1,300 – to 600 before they recovered. Teaming up with Uber can give taxi drivers access to a much larger pool of riders, while Uber can get supplies in the form of hundreds of taxi drivers.

Last year, San Francisco approved a test program that would allow passengers who order a taxi using an app to receive a guaranteed upfront payment, similar to how Uber and Lyft operate. The aim was, in part, to help taxi drivers make more money by countering a phenomenon called meter anxiety – the idea that the inconvenience of watching a trip’s cost increase in real time at a taxi meter prompt drivers to cancel a trip or avoid calling a taxi. at first. When calculated using a meter, the upfront cost had to be the same as the trip cost.

Now Uber wants to participate in the experiment with a twist: If San Francisco approves the participation of so-called “third-party referral services” like Uber, Uber won’t have to pay the upfront cost it charges customers to get a taxi through its app. should be the same as a metered taxi ride. This means they can get the same price as a typical UberX car ride, which is often cheaper than a taxi ride.

This worries some San Francisco taxi drivers will be offered cheap rides that only save them a few bucks. Others worry that when Uber raises rates in times of high demand, the abrupt pricing could discourage existing low-income taxi customers from driving.

“That’s not true,” said Evelyn Engel, a board member of the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance, which supports taxi drivers. She said she and other taxi drivers had heard from the city’s transportation agency that Uber was included in the pilot program.

“Uber will get hundreds of full-time drivers on its platforms,” ​​Ms Engel said, but taxi drivers “won’t even charge a per-trip fee for a dignified life.”

Muwaffaq Mustafa, 53, who has been a taxi driver for decades and now runs operations for Flywheel Taxi, the company that once sued Uber, said he thinks the Uber partnership will enrich taxi drivers and help save a faltering industry. He said slightly cheaper trips would be offset by more demand.

“If this deal comes true, I am optimistic that we will make up for all these failed years,” said Mustafa. “More searches, more value and more money.”

George Lama, 60, who has been a taxi driver in San Francisco for 20 years, said the partnership was needed as passengers now completely ignore taxis. He said he waited in a queue of taxi drivers outside the hotels to pick up people, but instead ordered Ubers.

“No one is looking at us because they are conditioned to have Uber faster, a larger fleet and cheaper,” Mr. Lama said.

In December, Hansu Kim, president and co-owner of the Flywheel taxi-hailing app, said at a panel at a transport regulators conference that the taxi industry’s approach to technology is like “dinosaurs still in the tar pits.” and he said he spoke to Uber to help taxi drivers reach customers waiting for cars.

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

Uber could benefit from the partnership by potentially providing access to hundreds of other drivers; Many drivers still complain of low earnings, and some said they’re leaving the platform or driving less, as gas prices rise, despite many saying they’ve seen driver numbers pick up in recent months after they left during the pandemic.

The Municipal Transportation Department says that taxi drivers will also benefit. “The taxi industry is taking advantage of Uber’s large rider population and pushing it towards the taxi industry,” Forest Barnes, a transportation planner for the agency, told taxi drivers at a recent Zoom meeting viewed by The Times.

If taxi drivers see more money through partnership, this may encourage some drivers to consider using a taxi instead. However, some taxi drivers oppose the merger.

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



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