The other night while watching a stream for Survivor US, I was repeatedly shown the same 30-second ad for a national taxi service. In what appears to be an appeal to younger Aussies, it presented hailing taxis on the street as a better option than waiting for a rideshare service like Uber or Ola.
This would be well and good, if the taxi industry wasn’t notorious for cabbies refusing fares they deem to be “too short”.
[jwplayer RyevJyvL]
The ad was released on YouTube around six days ago, and features a young girl effortlessly flagging down a cab after a night out with some friends, while others stand on the curb complaining that their booked rideshare drivers are either going the wrong way, or have cancelled their trips altogether.
https://youtu.be/phzQKtzxsJY
After the 10th or so viewing, I took to Twitter to vent my frustrations, and the sheer number of people that have had similar, if not more fucked up, experiences was alarming and upsetting.
https://twitter.com/courtwhip/status/1188066959155286016?s=20
For me, it was my first night out in Kings Cross back in 2010 – I was a fresh 19-year-old who had only just moved from my small coastal hometown a few months before, and the big smoke was still very overwhelming. I’d finished up at a gig in Surry Hills and made my way to a friend’s club night in the Cross, and when it came time for me to head back to where I was staying in Newtown, finding available taxis proved to be fucking impossible.
I was told it was changeover time, and the one taxi driver that I actually managed to get to stop for me yelled something to the tune of “NOT FAR ENOUGH!” and sped off with the door still half-open as I was trying to get in.
It left me, a teenage woman, stuck half-drunk, in tears, and completely lost in a strange city on the side of the road at 2.30am.
I quickly found out that my experience wasn’t alone as the replies started rolling in, with a whole lot of young people – some men, but mostly women, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming folk – recounting times they’d been fucked over by taxis, each more worrying than the last, to be honest.
If anything, it surprised me that so many of us have had these experiences with taxis and not found ourselves in more terrifying and dangerous situations.
Yep, love when it’s late at night and the keep the doors locked so you can’t get in before they’ve established where you’re trying to go (and if it’s in the “wrong direction”)
— ???? killy boo-cean ???? (@IllyBocean) October 26, 2019
I once was sat in a cab, asked where I was headed and then sworn at and told to get out because the trip wasn’t far enough. Haven’t trusted cabs since ????????♀️
— V ???????????? (@covermeinbagels) October 26, 2019
This happened to a mate of mine and the taxi driver yelled “not enough” then sped off except my friends watch somehow got caught and he got dragged behind the taxi so that’s fun.
— Clara Cupcakes (@claracupcakes) October 27, 2019
When I lived in east Melbourne I had to walk the 30/35mins home at 2-3 in the morning all the time because cabs would refuse me. If I did get a cab when they realised where I was going they would become angry and hostile so yeah, I never looked back when I no longer needed cabs.
— Jess Hoppy (@JessTotes) October 27, 2019
I was in a taxi on the way home with a female friend one morning around 4am, the driver wouldn’t stop and kept going when we told him repeatedly that he’d passed the house. He only stopped, in the middle of the main road, when my friend started to call the local police.
— kaykayjordon♊️ (@kaykayjordon) October 27, 2019
The last time I caught a cab the driver grabbed my arm to keep me from getting out of the car, I did and rushed inside the house, and when I went to complain to the company the next day they said it was my fault for sitting in the front
— Tegan Victoria (@teganvictoria) October 27, 2019
Research into the decline of the taxi industry was published in late 2018, showing that younger Australians are actively seeking out alternatives to taxis, a number which I’m sure has only continued to increase in the year since the research surfaces.
I know that this is just a small sample size of people, but it alarmed me that this happens, and is still happening. My incident might have happened in the pre-Uber days of 2010, but it’s alarming that this is still happening to people in 2019.
If taxis want us to return to them, they need to be better at taking us home safely. Ridesharing companies aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they least demonstrate a level of accountability and safety. Unless the taxi industry’s duty of care to its customers improves, it can hardly blame companies like Uber for people not wanting to flag a cab down after a night out.
