Worcester Taxi Drivers Face Financial and Physical Threats

Wednesday, February 03, 2016

GoLocalWorcester News Team

This week’s shooting of a Worcester taxi driver was just the latest act of violence against a driver. A taxi driver was shot on Stockton Street on Monday. This was just the latest act of violence on a taxi driver and just another on of the threats that the taxi industry and their drivers are facing.

The past year or two has not been kind to Worcester Taxi drivers. For decades the the taxi industry was a regulated industry, and those companies operating in the city had the market to themselves, but the 2014 arrival of Uber to Worcester was a game changer.

Uber Factor

Back in October of 2014, the head of one of Worcester’s largest taxi companies attacked the arrival of Uber to the market.

Worcester Red Cab Vice President Maggie Donovan says that the outrage stems from something much deeper.

“With Worcester being such a college town, a need for safe transportation in the city is a must,” said Donovan. “Uber is a complete safety hazard for anyone getting into one of their cars because they don’t have to go through the rules and regulations that a traditional taxi company has to. Whether problems with insurance not covering accidents, drivers that are not licensed in the way that taxis are, and problems with the amount of background checks that they run, you don’t know who is driving you or whether you will be able to arrive safely.”

Uber has grown the market

While Uber has hit the taxi industry in the wallet taking significant market share, but Uber and other ride sharing companies have also transformed how we travel. Instead of parking your car at Logan for a few days while traveling, now travelers are using Uber at a fraction of the cost.

In 2015, Business Insider reported that in New York, some taxi drivers have abandoned their leased vehicles and switched to driving for Uber. According to one taxi industry executive his company has lost 40 percent of its business.

“As the number of drivers continues to dwindle, between 80 and 120 cabs sit empty on any given shift. Yossri (a former cab driver) recalls one day recently when there were only enough drivers to send out 24 cabs, and 147 of them sat empty,” reported the Gothamnist.

Worcester companies have refused to disclose the impact of Uber on their revenue or passenger count.

Comparison - Uber and Taxi

In November of 2014, GoLocalWorcester compared traveling by taxi versus Uber. In a battle being played out across the country between Uber and local taxi companies, GoLocal Worcester sent two reporters out to report the positive and negatives of each company and to experience rides between similar locations. Each reporter broke down their experience into seven sections: Ordering, Pick-Up, Cleanliness, Driving, Cost, Service, and Overall Experience.

SEE SLIDESHOW BELOW

Could the taxi industry collapse?

In major cities, the taxi industry is near collapse.

In San Francisco, the once powerful Yellow Cab company, the largest taxi company in the market has filled for bankruptcy protection.

Whether the taxi companies in cities like Worcester could collapse is an unknown. The one firewall for taxi companies is older riders. Many of the taxi industries business is riders over 65 years of age who use taxis for appointments and errands. While their growth of smartphones and technology is growing rapidly -- according to Pew Research approximately 40 percent of those over 65 own a smartphone -- they lag the rest of demographic groups. Using Uber requires a smartphone app. While in the short-term this customer group is loyal to the taxi industry, this is not a long-term strategy.

Related Slideshow: UBER vs. Taxi Experience in Worcester

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1. Ordering

Taxis:For both reporters, ordering a taxi in Worcester was a headache. Using the New Worcester Yellow Cab App, one reporter ordered a cab at 10:48AM. At 11:12AM, Cab #41 was assigned, for a total order wait time of 24 minutes. And that was only for a cab to be assigned, it does not include the time it took for the cab to arrive.

Red Cab does not have an app. It has a mobile site with a telephone number. The first call was 22 rings before the call failed. The second call was 16 rings before anyone answered.

Uber: Using the Uber app, ordering was easy. For both reporters, it took less than a minute to order.

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2. Pick-Up

Taxis: For the Worcester Yellow Cab reporter, at 11:15AM, Cab #41 drove past the reporter and parked two blocks away. Apparently realizing his mistake, the cab driver picked the reporter up at 11:19AM, on the opposite side of Shrewsbury Street (31 Minutes from the time the reporter ordered the cab).

The Red Cab took eight minutes to arrive to location.

Uber: On average, the reporters only had to wait six minutes for a Uber car to arrive. When Uber arrived, they picked the reporters up right at the curb.

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3. Cleanliness

Taxis: Both taxis had dirty mats, and their upholstery was worn out. However, both vehicles were at least ten years old.

Uber: Although clean, the inside of the Uber vehicles were both pretty worn. One Uber vehicle was a new Nissan Altima. The other Uber vehicle was an older Toyota Camry.

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4. Driving

As shown in the videos, all four rides were safe and slow. The only problem was Yellow Cab’s decision to take a longer route to Holy Cross. All drivers were friendly and talkative and they all had a good estimate of fares from point A to point B.

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5. Cost

As mentioned, each driver had a good idea of what it would cost for a ride from Shrewsbury Street to Holy Cross and back. However, the cabs were nearly twice as much as Uber. The total cost of the cabs was $28, while Uber only cost the reporters a combined $17.

In one instance, the Uber driver knew ahead of time that construction was being done on an I-290 on-ramp near Holy Cross. As the Uber driver put it, “if they weren’t doing that work, this would’ve been even cheaper.”

See video here:

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6. Service

All drivers from both Uber and local Worcester taxi companies were very professional and friendly. Upon arrival, each driver asked said "Hello," and asked the reporters how their day was going. All four drivers made sure destinations were exact and upon reaching those destinations wished the reporters a "Happy Thanksgiving."