However Auckland Airport quickly warned that New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) regulations were preventing it from reaching a deal with Uber and Wellington Airport confirmed on Friday that it had reached the same conclusion.
That story's pretty old. The reason they haven't trespassed anyone (despite trying [in vain] to get airport police to act as their agents) is that they've been made aware that trespass law wasn't put in place for them simply to force a small segment of people to pay the fees they wanted. Such a use would likely be looked upon very dimly by the courts (you could guarantee a legal challenge from Uber) and could be viewed as extortion.
And these are the sorts of smart things that companies need to do. If you look here in NZ all taxi companies have done is build apps, and all have been dismal failures because they're so poor. They all still insist on charging an inflated fee for electronic payments. They're taking the Trump approach - instead of actually trying to compete you just keep bashing your opponent hoping it'll do some good eventually. In many US markets they're failing to change as well, the SF and LA taxi markets have been gutted.
If I was a taxi driver in Wellington right now I'd be asking serious questions of Wellington airport - taxis have to pay big fees to be there and yet the airport CEO booted Uber out and threatened to personally trespass drivers caught on airport premises. Uber now tell you to walk to Z for a pickup, and my understanding is there are now significant numbers of Uber rides from there into the City (I was told it's 100+ per day but clearly don't have hard numbers). The airport have even put a new crossing in to make the 200m walk safer!
For work, I find Uber so far behind a conventional taxi service, they just aren't competitive. Walk from plane/hotel/office to taxi stand and get in. No pre-booking. No waiting. It's hard to beat the admin convenience of a taxi charge card. We can see who used a taxi, when, where. One invoice to code per month. Auto-order from the office phone is a nice option too.
However, the blue bubble taxi app is simply awful. I don't understand why they can't get it sorted.
And these are the sorts of smart things that companies need to do. If you look here in NZ all taxi companies have done is build apps, and all have been dismal failures because they're so poor. They all still insist on charging an inflated fee for electronic payments. They're taking the Trump approach - instead of actually trying to compete you just keep bashing your opponent hoping it'll do some good eventually. In many US markets they're failing to change as well, the SF and LA taxi markets have been gutted.
If I was a taxi driver in Wellington right now I'd be asking serious questions of Wellington airport - taxis have to pay big fees to be there and yet the airport CEO booted Uber out and threatened to personally trespass drivers caught on airport premises. Uber now tell you to walk to Z for a pickup, and my understanding is there are now significant numbers of Uber rides from there into the City (I was told it's 100+ per day but clearly don't have hard numbers). The airport have even put a new crossing in to make the 200m walk safer!
For work, I find Uber so far behind a conventional taxi service, they just aren't competitive. Walk from plane/hotel/office to taxi stand and get in. No pre-booking. No waiting. It's hard to beat the admin convenience of a taxi charge card. We can see who used a taxi, when, where. One invoice to code per month. Auto-order from the office phone is a nice option too.
However, the blue bubble taxi app is simply awful. I don't understand why they can't get it sorted.
That's great. But when I can order an Uber walking off the plane in Auckland, go to the pickup area outside Domestic and hop in a vehicle that will take me into the City for $42 vs double that for a taxi I'm happy to wait a few minutes if need be. When it's now $36 for the bus for 2 people it's a no brainer to use Uber instead.
The corporate charging and invoicing for Uber beats what the taxi charge card offers hands down (I don't use both but know people who do).
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