(MENAFN- Alghad Newspaper)
News of the new smart-app development project for yellow cabs and taxis in Jordan is quite promising, now that the memo between Zain and the 'Jo Taxi app developers was signed. According to AlGhad's report, Wednesday, by our colleague Rajaa Saif, a new taxi-pooling app is underway, which should provide an alternative to Uber and Careem.
The app is supposed to develop and organise yellow taxi services across the country, after a long duration of chaos. Not to mention the low service quality, compared to that of Uber and Careem.
No doubt, the entry of Uber and Careem in Jordan solved various problems for so many Jordanians, let alone the jobs it created for youths, both employed and unemployed.
That said, can Jo Taxi resolve the predicament and give yellow taxis the ability to compete with Uber and Careem?
Certainly not, and I am quite sure about it.
I personally have used both services to compare between them, when my own care was under maintenance for nearly 10 days. I ordered yellow taxis at one point, and Ubers and Careem cars on other occasions, and the result was shocking!
There is an outstanding difference between the two.
At first, given my limited command of modern technologies, I resorted mostly to hailing taxies on the streets.
Typically, I would wait a long time to finally get one.
While I stood on the side of the road, hailing, many taxis would just drive by, as if I wasn't there.
In the few times I was lucky enough to find one, the taxis I got were disastrous.
They wouldn't turn on the AC, even in the hottest days of summer, let alone the lack of cleanliness and hygiene, the neglected vehicles, or the drivers' indecent clothes. Put aside having to listen to their music, and just having to bear with their demeanour or recklessness.
Not all of them of course, but I could swear one of them was on drugs, because he just wasn't normal!
When it comes down to it, the thing isn't just connecting taxis to smart-apps, even though this is good, it has more to do with finding solutions to organise dozens of thousands of taxis.
Many of them lease their vehicles, and the owners demand a fixed sum every day; drivers need to race time, and each other, to cover the daily obligations.
Needless to say, we all know they have no insurance, social security, or rights.
How can sense and organisation immerge out of such senselessness?
They need to beat each other to break even, mostly. Drivers rip off passengers and other drivers, and taxi owners rip them off, and so on, so forth!
Not long ago, I received an email from a well-learned, educated taxi driver, entailed unfathomable suffering, complaints, and the endless metre-issues. For instance, metre fares are fixed, and are not adjusted to the fluctuations in fuel prices.
This, Careem and Uber do not have to deal with.
Besides, there is also the taxi drivers' sufferings in dealing with the car owners.
Hopefully, the current Minister of Transportation, Jamil Mujahid, who is supposedly an expert in this turf, will be able to found fundamental solutions to the sector's many problems.
Can taxis be pooled under major companies, entailing clear instructions, including behavioural guidelines, records certificate, vehicle age, and cleanliness?
More importantly, can they operate under better conditions? Like social security, health insurance, and monthly pays, instead of daily leases?
Advancing the sector requires fundamental solutions, or else, the yellow taxi will turn into a ticking bomb, in time, striving under culminating pressures. And we're talking about tens of thousands of taxi drivers here, mind you!
On the other hand, rejecting the registration of Uber and Careem has turned the whole scene into a ‘Tom & Jerry' sort of situation. We in Jordan, love this game!
It is a trademark of nearly all government public relations, including the relationship with the opposition.
Ubers and Careems need to hide away from cops, and sometimes, passengers are required to sit in the front and lie to the police.
This is not acceptable, and it is not fitting of the quality of services provided by the two carpooling services, and the scale of solutions they provide citizens.
Hence, the government needs to found an effective, civilised solution to their problems; one which is not based solely on the amounts payable in registration fees!
This article is an edited translation of the Arabic version, published by AlGhad.
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