It seems Uber isn’t winning any friends in Seoul, with Seoul’s City Council preparing to ban Uber, with the council concerns including background checks made on drivers, the upkeep of vehicle used for Uber, and the impact Uber has made on traditional taxi services.
Uber was introduced into Seoul in August 2013, operating their “Uber Black” service, but it seems this is too much for Seoul City authorities.
Of course, to help those Uberless passengers, Seoul City Council will roll out its own apps to hail and find taxis. Which is conveniently timed.
Uber isn’t particularity happy about this, with comments that it doesn’t run directly run a taxi service, rather it is “technology company that connects drivers with passengers”. There’s also a rather cutting remark of:
“Comments like these show Seoul is in danger of remaining trapped in the past and getting left behind by the global ‘sharing economy’ movement”
For a lot of people Uber offers a convenient option, without the need to deal with cash and a user interface. Lyft and other services seem to make people happy when it comes to travel options – rather than running the risk of the local taxi driver.
But some see this as a threat to the traditional taxi trade. Whilst they can both co-exist, some will feel threatened by a change to the norm, and will fight what they believe is “right”.
As a consumer, it’s all down to choice. I opt for a licensed taxi for most of my taxi travels normally (mainly as I don’t trust some of the private operators as far as I throw them where I live, and 2) I’ve got no Uber coverage here), and they are making some signs of modernising (in taking cards, taking online bookings, etc). Is it enough? There’s always another choice if a taxi I need doesn’t have what I want….
And unlike a lot of Uber posts, there’s no referral credit or sign up requests! 😉
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Taxi unions know precisely who and with how much to bribe in Seoul. Corruption there is like oxygen — living beings can’t survive without it.
Plan B if the ban somehow doesn’t go through is to have a taxi union lackey claim that an Uber driver robbed him, or have another lackey sign up as a driver and do the actual assault on a user. Expect mafia stuff.
In cities like Seoul, you dont feel the need for Uber cuz taxis are really easy to hail down, and on any given day or time it’s usually easy to find taxis on the streets to choose from.
On the other hand, in places like Beijing or Los Angeles (where I lived extensively), yes you need a service like Uber and Lyft to facilitate the connection between the drivers and consumers.
Obviously Uber wants to do a massive rollout with much consideration to the taxi culture (or lack of).
In cities like Seoul, there is not much need for Uber as taxis are widely available any time of the day. Go out on any main roads, you can hail down a cab in few minutes.
Try doing that in LA or Beijing (where I lived extensively), you would waste lots of time waiting for a taxi. In these cities, Uber and other similar services are needed.
But places like Seoul, taxis are much more convenient and readily available at your disposal.
Lastly Uber doesn’t need a global rollout in all major cities, and it would help company strategy if it were to consider the local (taxi) culture into consideration.