Nederlands | English
Today we informed uberPOP partners that we are discontinuing uberPOP in The Netherlands on Friday, November 20th at 12:00 hours CET. While uberPOP provided interesting insights into what mobility could look like, we are stopping our lower cost service. It’s clear it had become a block to regulatory progress and our approach hasn’t always helped the case for reform. It’s a lesson we’ve learned. Our uberX and UberBLACK services will continue as normal in Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam and The Hague.
It is disappointing for uberPOP partners who relied on the platform to earn extra money each month. We will work to help them become uberX partners, although for some this will not be feasible because of the high costs required by the regulations. That’s why we’re committed to working with the Dutch Government to help develop progressive regulations that will give riders and drivers more choice.
The good news is that there is a clear momentum for reform, following several motions in Parliament supporting new regulations and experiments earlier this year. And in January the Government will start to suspend some of the most outdated rules that currently discourage many people from becoming private hire drivers. This is welcome progress but there’s more to be done.
Cities such as London and New York have shown how progressive regulations can promote both passenger safety and greater choice—for the benefit of riders, drivers and cities.
Benefits for Passengers
Smartphones make it possible to push a button and get a safe, affordable ride within minutes: whether you’re in a neighborhood where public transport is limited and taxis are few and far be, or if your bicycle has a flat tire, or because you missed the last bus or tram home. There’s no need to book in advance, stop at the cashpoint to get money out or stand on the street corner hoping a taxi will come along. It’s why almost 300,000 people have signed up for Uber in The Netherlands alone.
Benefits for Drivers
In a country where one in two people have part time jobs, Uber enables people to fit their work around existing commitments, in particular childcare, as well as new opportunities to help get the unemployed back to work. In London, for example, 20 percent of drivers come from communities with over 10 percent unemployment. And in Paris, 27 percent were unemployed before using Uber.
Benefits for Cities
Finally services like Uber can improve the quality of life in cities, starting with congestion. In cities like New York and Paris Uber is so popular that we have a ton of passengers wanting to get to the same place at the same time. With uberPOOL and uberCOMMUTE they can share the ride and cut congestion.
We want to work together with governments to further improve mobility and foster job creation,—and overtime hopefully help provide an alternative to De Randstad looking like a parking lot and moving like a traffic jam.
Posted by Niek van Leeuwen
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