Violence between meter taxi drivers and their Uber counterparts could well be a thing of the past, now that meter taxi drivers have officially joined the digital age.
Last week, the first batch of meter taxi drivers registered to new cab-hailing app, Yookoo Rider, took to Joburg’s roads.
The locally based app is a new cab-hailing app that connects users with hundreds of metered cab drivers around the country.
The move indicates a shift from physical confrontations between metered taxi drivers, who are losing market share, and Uber. In July, an Uber driver died from his injuries after his car was set alight near Loftus Versveld Stadium in Pretoria.
While only a small handful of metered taxi drivers have been registered thus far with Yookoo Rider and are on the roads of Joburg, more than 180 000 vehicles are expected to partner with the locally based app. Earlier this year, the SA metered taxi association admitted the need to embrace technology to compete with other cab-hailing apps.
Kenny Niemach, the chief of Yookoo Rider, believes that metered taxis finally have the technology to compete with other cab-hailing apps in the country.
“When we developed the app, we weren’t looking to revolutionise the industry, but rather put on par the South African Meter Taxi Association and give it the technology to fight against their competitors like Uber and Taxify,” said Niemach. “It’s also a very costly venture, but at the same time we want to try and provide the best possible service.
“You won’t find any cab-hailing app cheaper than us.”
Each driver will go through a thorough registration process, which will include comprehensive driver vetting.
“All our drivers are being trained They will learn how to manage and handle their business. When you jump into one of our cars, the driver will be wearing a Yookoo branded T-shirt , the car will be clean, it will smell nice,” said Niemach.
“The car will also be branded We will also issue the drivers with brand new cars.”
While cab-hailing apps like Uber charge its drivers about 25 percent for every trip they make, Niemach said they would be taking far less from their drivers.
Yookoo has also become the first cab-hailing app in Africa to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. “We wanted to be the first African taxi company that employs such technology. We are a little ahead of the game.”
Niemach urged the government to step help them with funding to facilitate the training of metered taxi drivers.
Meanwhile, cab-hailing apps like Uber and Taxify have welcomed the competition by Yookoo Rider.
Samantha Allenberg, a spokesperson for Uber, said: “Competition and choice mean we all have to up our game Our focus will continue to be on reliability, flexibility and opportunity.”
Taxify said it was pleased with the arrival of Yookoo Rider. “It is always nice to see new innovative apps hit the market,” said Linda Mahloko, Taxify’s operations manager. “Competition is always good.”
Gauteng’s Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi, has also welcomed the arrival of Yookoo.