Much like it has in the United States, Uber and other ride-sharing services have upended the traditional taxi in Europe. Just like the U.S., taxi operators have protested the disruption the new services have caused upon them, citing the lack of properly licensed drivers and thoroughly maintained vehicles as a reason to bring them in line with the same regulations they already are mandated to follow. However, unlike the U.S., European taxi drivers took their complaints to the streets, and then some.
Autoblog reports 30,000 drivers in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain blocked the streets to bring awareness to what Uber and its app are doing to allegedly harm the industry, both in regards to public safety and the industry's bottom line. The Teamsters International Union threw their support behind the protestors, proclaiming "the drivers' fight in Europe" was their fight, both sharing similar concerns on ride-sharing:
The drivers are calling for fairness and asking that if the private sedan services are allowed to operate that they do so on a level playing field. Uber is currently operating without having to comply with the same rules and regulations that taxi drivers do.
For its part, Uber defends the services it offers to its members, stating its drivers are fully licensed, undergo a screening process prior to taking on passengers, and are evaluated on their performance through customer-satisfaction metrics compiled in-app from every completed ride by its consumer base.
from The Truth About Cars http://ift.tt/Jh8LjA
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