All you need is a smartphone and a credit card. Then a ride works out cheaper than a taxi. That’s Uber’s promise. The ride-hailing service has revolutionised the taxi industry. Now the company has arrived in the Canary Islands too.
Last year, 70,000 people in Tenerife tried to book a taxi via the Uber app. The company has recorded this figure. As of this week, Uber is now available on the largest Canary Islands island.
The service will initially be offered in four municipalities: Granadilla de Abona, Arona, Adeje and Guía de Isora. This means that the South Airport is also included in the service area. Passengers from these municipalities can be taken anywhere on the island, including, for example, the north of Tenerife.
Launch in the Canary Islands: How does Uber work?
It’s incredibly simple. You select your pick-up point and destination in the smartphone app, along with the time you’d like the journey to start. A fixed price is displayed. If the passenger accepts this, the request is sent to all nearby drivers. Once a driver accepts the journey, the customer can see straight away where the driver is and when they’ll arrive. Once the journey is complete, the agreed fare is charged to the credit card. Uber promises that everything is transparent and straightforward.
As well as the standard taxi service, there is also a limousine service called ‚Uber Black‘. So anyone planning an island tour in a luxury car can book this via the app too. This means that Uber is not only competing with taxis, but also with car hire and bus services.
Uber in the Canary Islands: How ordinary taxi drivers are being encouraged to join the scheme
To launch this service, the company is operating 30 limousines. The taxi business, on the other hand, is being left to existing drivers. They can register and, in future, use their vehicles not only for standard metered taxi journeys but also to work as subcontractors for Uber.
To attract a large number of drivers from the outset, those who register as Uber drivers will receive a commission of 300 euros until the end of August. Furthermore, they will not have to pay any commission during this period, and after completing their 25th journey for Uber, they will receive a bonus of a further 150 euros. This approach is likely to enable the company to attract potential drivers quickly. These drivers, in turn, will then generate commission for Uber from September onwards for every successful booking.
Tenerife is particularly exciting for Uber; Gran Canaria is set to follow
The fact that Uber launched in Tenerife of all places was due not only to the demand recorded in the past but also to the rising visitor numbers on the largest of the Canary Islands.
Commenting on further growth, Felipe Fernández, Uber’s head of operations for Spain and Portugal, said: „We will now analyse trends in the number of journeys, as well as the number of drivers, taxis and user interest, so that we can later expand across the whole island and to Gran Canaria.“ In Tenerife, therefore, the metropolitan area and the north could also be developed, whilst the neighbouring tourist island is also a focus for the ride-hailing service.
Canary Islands legislation has kept Uber waiting for a long time
There are currently 2,350 applications for VTC licences in Tenerife. In the Canary Islands, this is mandatory for privately registered vehicles wishing to transport passengers commercially. The EU has already taken note of these special regulations in the Canary Islands and wishes to amend them. Uber, too, has held back due to this restriction.
The President of Tenerife, Pedro Martín, announced that the island’s administration would review the tender process and the relevant legislation. This was a factor that had long prevented Uber from expanding into the Canary Islands. This is because, in other countries, anyone with a valid driving licence can register as a driver with Uber.
However, despite the law, the company did not want to wait any longer and therefore focused on existing taxi drivers. „We’ve been working on this for months,“ said Fernández. Uber’s head of operations in Spain has so far been very satisfied with the launch in the Canary Islands. The further expansion of Uber’s services in the Canary Islands is therefore likely to be only a matter of time.
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