Taxi Times International - March 2015 - English

CHANGING TAXI TRADE
NEWS
BRUSSELS
GOVERNMENT
FINANCES
DIGITAL
TAXIMETERS
As Brussels
cabs are no
‘pirate taxis’
they will
have a digital
meter.
By October 2016 all taxis in the Brussels Capital Region should be fitted with
the most advanced taxi meter. The Region will spend € 3,2 million.
approach. We need to
educate the industry
operators to spread
the same strong public
safety message.”
Isn’t it a very uneven
battle financially?
“We are dogged in
our determination.
Unflinching, unfailing
we have to be there
365 days of every year. IRU and national
associations all have to be there. What happened
to Uber in December was three years
in the making. Two bad months in 2014.
But they are in for more. TLPA staff is growing
by one to 6, but the number of our consultants
has grown tremendously: legal,
legislative, social media, insurance and PR.
It’s been a burden that our members share.
This year we have to double our fees as there
are significant costs we need to share.”
Can the industry learn a lesson from
TNC’s?
“We rely too much on our colour schemes,
the visibility of our cabs. That’s not enough
anymore. People have shown they prefer
not to call a dispatcher. They prefer pushing
a button on their smartphone. People
like that, I like that. Technology gives comfort
if it’s done right. Showing the vehicle
coming towards you on your smartphone
screen gives confidence in the service. A
great idea. Another one is rating drivers.
This may encourage some drivers to provide
more customer friendly service.”
»We need universal
coverage. It’s a
worthwhile goal to
strive for as soon
as possible.«
“Marketing perhaps? Yes, they give away
free trips. That’s what you have to do when
you’re in business providing an illegal service.
Or spend major dollars on social
media. It’s too costly for licensed operators
to provide free trips. But if you’re not paying
licensing fees and expenses, it’s not so
difficult to give away free trips.”
LaGasse is honest about the state of the
industry: “Are they hurting us? Yes! In the
early days we fought them off quite well.
Most operators in the US have more than
one type of operation – the lines between
services are more blurred here. In the US
we’re probably headed to a relaxation of
many licensing and
public safety requirements
in the taxi
industry. I firmly
believe TNC’s public
safety requirements
must be and will be
tightened and like us
they must turn over
data to regulators.
We could do with
paying less fees to
the cities, if we want a chance to lower
our rates and compete with TNC prices.
And if the rules are relaxed for our competitors,
then for us as well. We need to
have a look at new business practices, like
surge pricing. Not to copy it and charge 7
or 8 times the fare, but to give our drivers
who are out in bad weather, a reasonable
incentive to stay on the road for the
passengers.”
One universal app for the US, would
that work?
“That’s a universal ideal that can be realised.
But we never got our members
behind one methodology for an app. I say,
lets start going through the steps, if we
ever want to get there. The market is not
big enough to support a 100 apps in the
USA and more than a 100 worldwide. How
many will survive? My guess is fewer than
5 taxi apps in the US, and maybe 10 worldwide.
We need universal coverage. It’s a
worthwhile goal to strive for as soon as
possible. That’s why we think GTN is such
a good initiative.” n
wf
PHOTO: Wim Faber
PHOTO: Weilandt, Faber
All 1.270 taxis in the Brussels region must
be fitted with new digital meters, similar
to the digital taximeters in Flanders and
the advanced on-board computers (BCT) in
The Netherlands. But where Dutch taxi
operators received a subsidy of a mere
€ 600 on an average BCT of € 1.300 to
€ 1.500, Brussels colleagues will profit
from a generous local government. Minister
Pascal Smet (Mobility) will finance the
meters from a budget of € 3,2 million. So
far only 40 of the taxis in the European
Dirk Ritter, responsible for the traffic business supervision of the
Authority for Economy, Transport and Innovation of the City of
Hamburg, drew a positive balance. The so-called fiscal taximeters
were installed and supported financially in 2.104 taxis, says Ritter.
This is a “huge number
which we can all be proud of”.
It is a very strong signal when
“2/3 of all vehicles voluntarily participate,
guaranteeing fair competitive
conditions and im proving
their image significantly”.
Unlike most other areas, taxi
permits in Hamburg are not limited
and they increased drastically
in the beginning of the new
millennium – from 3,391 in 1966
to over 4,000 in 2000. Consequently,
a parallel economy and
moonlighting were emerging.
capital are fitted with a digital meter. How
the Region is going to decide on the supplier
of these meters, is not yet decided.
With the new taximeter drivers will no
longer have to record their rest and driving
times with pen and paper, local government
gets more data and customers get
more information about price and distance.
Smet insists on maximum transparency in
the taxi sector. The neww meters must enable
card and smartphone payments. The
meter should not only simplify the work of
FINAL BALANCE IN HAMBURG
The number of Taxis in Hamburg is falling continuously.
the taxi driver. As its data will be stored
on an “external server” and in the meter
itself, local government will also get a
wealth of information about the local taxi
activities and about local traffic.
For Smet this is a first step “in making
the Brussels taxi sector more dynamic and
customer friendly. At the moment I’m
working on a Taxi Plan, which I will present
to the government in due course. With
this plan we are moving towards a better
taxi service in Brussels.”
wf
On the 30th of November 2014 ended a project of several years, promoted by the licensing
authorities of Hamburg, for the installation of fiscal taximeters.
In order to monitor actual sales again, the Hanseatic city started
a project known as the “Hamburg Model”. The voluntary installation
of tamper-proof taximeters was financially supported.
Through the participation of numerous companies, as well as the
evaluation of recorded sales, realistic
values could be determined
again, serving as a starting point
for the authorities.
As a result, the extension of
concessions was refused to many
companies, as their specific sales
were classified as implausible.
“The time the taxi business in
Hamburg was finding itself rather
in a ‘grey zone’ is finally over” Dirk
Ritter concluded. “The number of
taxis in Hamburg is falling continuously.
Today, there are only 3,252
taxis on Hamburg’s roads.” jh
14 TAXI MARCH / 2015
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