After the pandemic, during which they practically experienced a boom, mobility applications rethink their business strategies. Uber, for example, has decided increase registration for taxi drivers in all cities of the country where it is available so that they can start making trips through the application and access all the technological advantages of the platform.
The reason for the proposal is that in cities such as Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Mar del Plata the number of trips made by taxis using the Uber app tripled in the past three months.
Just to consolidate the growth in the number of taxi drivers registered to drive with the app, Uber plans to offer two special promotions until March 31st.
The first is that cab drivers who sign up and start driving can earn up to an additional $100,000 by completing their first 50 trips before the promotion ends. And second, those who are already registered can receive up to an additional $50,000 for every new taxi driver they invite to the platform and complete 50 trips before the promotion ends.
“We want taxi drivers to see everything they can add with the Uber app and the economic opportunities that travel demand opens up in the app,” explains Eli Frías, Uber’s regional operations manager for Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Cities where taxi drivers can register from now on are Córdoba, Tucumán, Corrientes, Salta, Santa Fe, Rosario, Comodoro Rivadavia, Jujuy, Neuquén, Paraná, Posadas, Resistencia, Bahía Blanca and Reconquista.
For DiDi, the Chinese platform that landed in Argentina in November 2020, taxi drivers “are key players in the mobility ecosystem”. During 2022, the number of taxi drivers registered in this app has increased by more than 20% since the start of the year. And the number of trips by taxi They tripled from January to December.
“This goes hand in hand with the trend that more and more people adopt to move around the city with a mobility platform as a habit, opting for the anticipation of the final price, the planning of times and the security that it provides having the profile of the driver and real-time travel monitoring,” explained Delfina Orlando, Mobility Communications Manager for the Southern Cone. And she stressed that the company intends continue to improve mobility in the AMBA.
From Cabify, the Spanish application that also operates in the local market, the experience with taxi drivers “is satisfactory,” they said. “In Mendoza, Mar Del Plata and Cordoba we have taxis in our app, we don’t have them in Buenos Aires. The reality is that Cabify doesn’t really compete with the taxi they are different consumption occasions, service for different times“, they stressed.
As for the taxi fare, according to DiDi, “one of the advantages is that the price is the same calculated on the basis of what is foreseen for all taxi drivers by the Government of the City of Buenos Airess (includes flag lowering and adjustments that occurred in recent months.
In Argentina, the mobility applications market lost a player last year: the app of Greek origin Beat, which had landed in 2019 and decided to deactivate its service in the country together with those of Mexico and Peru. In return, a new player has recently been added: drive, the mobile platform that allows the free negotiation of fares between drivers and passengers.
Source: Clarin
