Unless they have recently purchased a large stake in Uber, it’s hard to understand the latest strategic decisions of a few local taxi drivers and, more particularly, the union leadership.
With the traditional taxi industry, like so many others, under threat from disruptive technology, are drivers improving service or lowering their prices to stay competitive? No. Are they soliciting customer feedback or modernizing their dispatch and payment systems to stave off ride-sharing services? Not really.
Instead, their union has resorted to violence and aggression, busing in protesters from out of town to storm the offices of Coventry Connections, push dispatchers around and disconnect equipment in a dispute over new rules at the airport. Protesting drivers have caused disruption to the general public by blocking traffic, sometimes major roads during rush hour. They’ve targeted their competitors with hostile videos, looking like bullies in the process. And according to an Ottawa judge, one union official has lied in court about protests outside the airport terminal.
Sometimes you lose the public relations battle. But this is putting the public relations puck in your own net three times in the third period.
A few months ago, the taxi drivers had much of the public on their side in their fight against ride-sharing services. Many people were initially apprehensive about Uber and how it had charged into the market in defiance of the rules. Even as some customers embraced the cheaper, more modern alternative, legitimate concerns were being raised, particularly about insurance for Uber drivers. And there was some sympathy for the owners and leaseholders of expensive taxi licenses, who had the potential to see their investments evaporate if Uber was allowed to operate.
(As an aside, I’ve never understood why the city allowed a resale market to drive the value of taxi plates into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Why not simply issue non-transferrable plates, to be returned to the city and reissued when they are no longer being used by the licensee?)
My guess is that in the long run, ride-sharing services were inevitable. The market always defaults to the cheapest and best solutions. But there was a unique window for the taxi industry during which they could have done much to undermine or at least forestall their innovative new competitors. Unlike other businesses, taxi service is regulated by the city, so it’s not as simple as winning the fight for customers. Initially, this was more about government relations than public relations.
And when public officials make decisions, it’s convenient to have an obvious bad guy. For a time, the leading candidate was the unauthorized Uber driver, the upstart operating outside the rules. City politicians were very dismissive of the new player and its new tactics.
But rather than leave well enough alone, the taxi business launched its own sophisticated campaign to be the villain. Now, there’s a growing list of politicians who are opening their minds to ride-sharing services. The actions of some drivers and union leaders have not just made it more likely that new bylaws will allow for competitors, they’ve accelerated the timetable for that process. A consultant’s report to the city is recommending licensing ride-sharing companies, pointing to how Uber has “much better” service than taxis.
Once upon a time, the plight of the taxi driver attracted at least some public sympathy. But while the vast majority of drivers continue to be decent, hard-working people who are just trying to find a way to pay the bills, the actions of a few individuals and union bosses has made the traditional taxi industry much less worthy of community support or political capital.
At some point the dispute between the union, the airport and the taxi company will be resolved but the damage has already been done to the industry. Whoever is doing government relations for Uber should take the union bosses out for a round of drinks. The job of clearing the way for ride-sharing services in Ottawa has gotten a lot easier.
Twitter.com/_MarkSutcliffe
