Uber’s European Business Grows After Partnering With Taxi Drivers

A growing share of European taxi drivers’ business is coming from Uber.

The share of these taxi drivers’ rides that are booked on the platform has risen from 5% a year ago to 10% today, Reuters reported Monday (May 29).

Uber and European taxi drivers had been in conflict in the past, but that changed after the implementation of new rules that require Uber drivers to have a commercial license, according to the report.

Now, taxi drivers in the region are adopting the app and using the scheduled rides it provides to add to their existing curbside pickup business, the report said.

With more drivers, Uber is delivering better service levels and growing its business in the region, per the report.

The ride-hailing company’s biggest markets in the region are seeing “very solid performance with a lot of innovation, including development of our taxi solution in all of those countries,” Uber Vice President and Head of EMEA Mobility Anabel Diaz told Reuters.

At the same time, the platform faces uncertainty around potential changes in Europe’s regulation of the gig economy, and when gig workers are considered employees, according to the report.

The European Union (EU) will discuss the issue at a meeting in June, the report said.

Whatever the outcome on that issue, “the reality is we will adapt,” Diaz said.

Uber’s taxi integration with its ride-hailing app has been rolled out in several European cities.

This offering has reduced its conflicts with both taxi drivers and regulators. For example, Uber drivers were briefly banned from operating in Brussels before the company integrated local taxi firms into its platform.

Uber has been innovating in other ways as well.

It was reported May 10 that the company has added flight bookings to its app for customers in the United Kingdom, joining the domestic train, Eurostar and coach bookings it already offers in the country.

The flight bookings are offered via a partnership with Hopper and are expected to help boost Uber’s main ride-booking operation as well, the Financial Times reported.

In the United States, Uber has teamed up with Google-owned self-driving vehicle firm Waymo to launch fully autonomous service in Phoenix later this year.