The Mineta San Jose International Airport taxicab dispatch contractor is asking impartial drivers to pay elevated charges and put on ties. Some drivers aren’t having it.
Dozens of impartial taxicab drivers are protesting guidelines from Safer, LLC, the airport’s taxi dispatch contractor. According to drivers, they started a strike on Nov. 16 and plan to remain off the job till a brand new settlement with the town is reached.
Safer has carried out a 25% per-ride payment on drivers, together with per-trip charges and a brand new costume code. The transfer might threaten airport companies because the winter vacation season approaches.
“We end up getting almost nothing,” Kirpal Bajwa, a driver who organized the strike, advised San José Spotlight.
Bajwa and different placing drivers led a protest Monday. More than a dozen taxis drove from the airport to San Jose City Hall the place they met with Mayor Sam Liccardo. A spokesperson for Liccardo’s workplace advised San José Spotlight the mayor is working with all events concerned to develop a decision.
The 25% payment, together with different related airport charges, comes out of a driver’s per-ride share when riders guide via Safer’s app, on-line or at the Safer airport kiosk. Travelers are in a position to prebook and prepay their journeys, much like requests on rideshare apps comparable to Lyft and Uber.
Before Safer’s contract, drivers paid $330 per 30 days with a purpose to use the airport. In addition, they paid a $1.55 payment per trip to handle airport permits plus the airport’s per-trip payment. Safer did away with the $330 per 30 days mannequin. For passengers who guide via Safer’s app, on-line or kiosk, taxicab drivers pays $1.50 per trip plus 25% of the overall price of that trip. On high of that, drivers nonetheless should pay the airport’s per-trip payment.
“What are the gas prices now? What about maintenance? What about my children? What is left? That is what we’re fighting,” Bajwa mentioned.
Taxicab drivers, who’re impartial contractors, have been attempting to struggle off adjustments to their shrinking business up to now few years. Taxi companies dwindled at the start of the pandemic, as residents had been inspired to remain house to forestall the unfold of COVID-19. In October, a metropolis fee voted to delay an as much as 250% improve in legal responsibility insurance coverage.
The taxi business has been decimated by each the rise of rideshare corporations like Uber and Lyft and the pandemic. According to a March metropolis memo, taxi journeys dropped from a mean 1,100 journeys per day earlier than the appearance of Uber and Lyft to lower than 360 journeys per day earlier than the pandemic. That quantity shrunk to 26 per day in January.
“Trips haven’t bounced back tremendously, and that’s understandable,” Larry Silva, president and common supervisor of Yellow Checker Cab Company Inc., advised San José Spotlight. “Still, at the end of the day, drivers aren’t happy.”
The charges on high of a hurting business come at a value for Bajwa and his fellow drivers. One a lot steeper than they’re used to.
“We’ve been providing services to the city,” Bajwa mentioned. “We’re not new. We’re experienced drivers, dedicated, law-abiding drivers. We contribute to the economy of the city. So what is our fate?”
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‘Tis the season to travel
Brazil-based Safer entered a two-year contract with the city in March to provide services to the airport, along with three one-year options to extend its contract. According to a city memo and Safer’s web site, San Jose is the primary airport exterior Brazil that it has partnered with.
According to airport officers, the airport and drivers are working with one another to deal with drivers’ issues, together with tips on how to accumulate suggestions after the trip, which at present isn’t a part of the kiosk system. Airport officers say the system favors each drivers, who get a chance to choose up further passengers at terminals, and riders, who get the comfort of in-app companies very like Uber and Lyft.
“The airport continues to encourage productive talks between the two groups, particularly regarding drivers’ concerns about the new technologies allowing prepayment of taxi fares at kiosks within the terminal,” airport spokesperson Keonnis Taylor advised San José Spotlight. “With the holiday travel season now underway, Safer staff are assisting riders with placements as needed. The airport is continuing to monitor the situation closely.”
Contact Lloyd Alaban at [email protected] or observe @lloydalaban on Twitter.