We all know about Uber the hottest startup disrupting the taxi industry around the world.
But for those that don’t Uber is a new taxi app, (actually for legal reasons it is actually a ride sharing app) that is taking over the world. The app connects passengers with drivers and for a pre-agreed fare the driver will take the passenger to their destination. The advent of the app and smartphone GPS has bought a lot of innovation to the market: such as a real time information (tracks where your ride is and how far away it is), panic button, dynamic pricing and a lot more. But what it has really done is use technology to disrupt the the taxi industry. And the incumbent industry is not happy about it.
Like many industries before it it they are using a pretty standard (and ineffective) playbook to compete against Uber and unsurprisingly they aren’t winning the PR battle. The fact is while they are being disrupted and the value of their franchises and networks are being eroded but they need to be seen as the customer champion not the stuck in the mud incumbent
This is the approach they are currently using:
- Taxi Federation insists they are not safe, will not stay cheap, and will have drivers who are “rotten eggs”.
- Anyone can be a Uber driver yet you need to have a special license to be a Taxi driver
- Their pricing is inconsistent with surge pricing
- They just don’t have the safety and the security.
- They are breaching the New Zealand Transport Agency rules
I wonder if a better approach would be to focus on the customer and benefits they are bringing to the customer
- We embrace technology and enhancements – there are apps out there that does the same things I.e. zoomy – the benefit of zoomy is that it is across a large number of taxi companies giving you variety of types of cars you want to use, cheap to corporate
- While we have issues with the interpretation of how Uber is operating under the NZ Transport Agency rules for our, members, customers and Uber members we welcome a review
- What are the benefits of using a Taxi federation taxi? We don’t use surge pricing so you always know what you are going to be charge per km
- Offer innovation in pricing – using a GPS app we can also offer fixed fairs if that is what the customer wants
KS.
