Arrived in Italy exactly 9 years ago, in March 2013, e almost disappeared and made practically illegal a couple of years later due to furious protests from taxi drivers, Uber may have found a way back.
The test bed is the city of New York, another where the life of the company, the best known among those involved in the so-called ridesharing, has been particularly difficult: the company founded by Travis Kalanick managed to make an agreement with the taxi drivers. A kind of truce that should open up a huge market for her.
What will happen in New York
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the approximately 14,000 iconic yellow taxis of New York will be integrated into the Uber app from the end of spring. What does it mean? It means that by accessing the app and looking for a driver, on the map you will see not only the cars of private Uber drivers but also those of taxi drivers. It also means that taxi drivers will be able to accept requests from Uber members. Not only that: the apps used to book a taxi will be integrated with Uber’s software so that (in perspective) for the end user there will be no difference between using one or the other.
It is still not clear how fares will be calculated, but from what we understand choose a taxi instead of any other Uber car it could cost the customer a few dollars more with the same distance (but there are also variables such as traffic, parking time and so on). In addition, taxi drivers will be able to see in advance the estimated value of a ride (which Uber drivers will not be able to do), so they can decide whether to accept it or not.
Why the New York Agreement matters
Of course, as it does with all its drivers, Uber will receive one percentage of all journeys completed by taxi drivers: this is one of the reasons for the importance of this agreement, which opens up a gigantic market for the San Francisco company like that of the Big Apple.
Likewise, taxi drivers will be able to reach previously unreachable customers, allowing them to increase their earnings as well. This is the second reason for the importance of the agreement: New York has long been the city symbol of the clash between taxis and Uber, with over 1000 taxi drivers who have filed for bankruptcy in recent years (probably due to the arrival of ridesharing) And at least 6 who would have killed themselves out of desperation.
The third reason is that New York becomes a testing ground for one strategy that could be replicated worldwideUber has already made similar deals with taxi drivers in Austria, Colombia, South Korea, Germany, Hong Kong, Spain and Turkey, but making it in Manhattan is something else entirely. Because, as Sinatra sang, “if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere”. you can make it anywhere, perhaps even in Italy.