Globally, technology is disrupting many traditional businesses and threatening to put many out of jobs. The transport sector is one area experiencing such disruptions as ride-hailing apps are threatening the traditional taxicab business in countries like Ghana.
Some taxi drivers who are already feeling the heat in major cities where the likes of Uber and Bolt are operating say they’re devising strategies to give their business a face-lift to stay competitive and profitable.
Until ten years ago, the world was used to traditional taxi services mostly for shorter distances within cities or even villages, except for a few instances when passengers hire taxis for longer trips.
But today, city dwellers, in particular, have the luxury of using an application on a smartphone to simply hail a car to pick them up in the home, office or any other location.
These ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Bolt, the highly patronized ones in Ghana, offer some convenience, safety, comfort and arguably competitive prices than the usual taxi drivers who charge without any metering system or time covered on a trip.
There are various types of these ride-hailing apps operating in almost every continent in the world, although Uber stands tall, operating in 65 countries and in over 600 cities worldwide.
According to statistics, Uber does nearly 14 million trips each day.
Aside from the convenience these apps offer to the traveling public, they have disrupted the traditional taxi business globally, forcing some conventional taxi drivers to get onto the app, which largely gives them more money, and reduces their stress, as they do not have to struggle for passengers.
But in Ghana, where about 25,000 drivers are said to be on these apps according to their association, a lot of taxi drivers in the urban centres where these apps operate, have seen their sales take a nosedive, as many of their passengers especially in the middle class have shifted to the Ubers and the Bolts.
Indeed, some of the drivers on these apps; are people who were not necessarily driving for commercial purposes, but are now driving to gain extra income; while it’s a full-time job for those who were unemployed.
It appears that those who still find the normal taxi business lucrative are those stationed at specific terminals in communities where passengers travel shorter distances that may not require the use of an Uber or a Bolt, formerly known as Taxify. Traditional taxi drivers in towns and villages where these apps don’t operate are also not affected for now.
But for Taxi drivers who do not have specific terminals where they operate from; and only drive around hoping to find passengers, they have been severely hit by these ride-hailing apps.
A visit by Citi Business News to the Accra Mall taxi rank showed how drivers sat idle as they looked forward to the arrival of passengers. Some of the drivers spoke to Citi Business News about the impact these ride-hailing apps have on their operations.
“Business was great, but after Uber started operations in Ghana, our taxi business has almost collapsed. When we come to work, we don’t make a lot of sales. They have completely taken over the market,” said one driver.
Another said: “It has brought a lot of inconveniences. Their fares are low compared to the normal taxi business”.
On the argument of the disparity in the fares charged by drivers on the ride-hailing apps and these taxi drivers, they said their fares are more realistic, and that if they reduce just to stay in competition they will lose heavily.
“Our charges are reasonable, they’re not expensive. We maintain our own cars and buy fuel. We bargain with the customers to arrive at a fair price. Some passengers also don’t give us the right location and so they end up lying to us,” one driver defended.
Another also said, “I have been in this business for a long time. Uber cars are small and not convenient for commercial driving. If a passenger agrees to pay more and requests for Air conditioner, I don’t have a problem. But will not join Uber because I believe the system cheats the drivers.”
Although some conventional taxi drivers are now on these platforms, not all of them are willing to get onto them for various reasons. Indeed, using these apps require some level of literacy to maneuver the app and the maps, and also communicate with passengers at least in basic English, a requirement some of these taxi drivers may not meet.
It appears the future of taxi service globally will be largely technology-driven, which means the normal taxi driver may have to get onto the innovation or lose out completely. But some of them say they’re devising strategies to be able to compete with these apps and remain profitable.
Chairman of the Accra Mall Taxi Drivers Union, Akwasi Amankwah told Citi Business News “We are coming up with some modalities to be able to compete with the uber cars. By the end of the year we will be out with the solution,” he assured.