Cabbies vs. Uber: who’s winning the battle for public opinion?

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – As the friction between cabbies and Uber ramps up in many cities, we’ve seen things reach a flashpoint in Toronto.

Angry taxi drivers have been blocking intersections in the latest protests against the ride-share service in that city, but are they hurting their cause more than helping?

Public sentiment seems to have swung away from taxi companies, even here in Vancouver where Uber has yet to break into the market.

“Certainly cab companies have gone into major overdrive with regard to their public image,” says Professor Lindsay Meredith, an expert in marketing strategy at the SFU’s Beedie School of Business.

“Whenever you are running a monopoly, you are wide open to criticism because monopolies traditionally have been renowned for delivering substandard service at over-priced points.”

He adds cab companies in Metro Vancouver are also trying to protect their image.

“The most important part is customer service. Whenever you get media coverage showing people soaked to the skin, standing on the street for over an hour trying to wave down a taxi in the Christmas season, that is not a good image to have,” he explains. “Then when you note that taxi cab licenses sell for around $800,000 privately, it tells you there is an awful lot of money in the business and that reflects back on the prices consumers have to pay.”

Meredith believes service issues, high prices and poor public image are key ingredients for “a consumer revolution.”

“And with groups of taxi drivers getting a little violent [in Toronto] about people moving in on their turf, that kind of stuff doesn’t sell well from from a public perception point either. It just undermines all the marketing efforts of taxi companies arguing they are putting public interest first and foremost.”

Uber is still trying to break into the Vancouver market. It has been shot down by City Council, but says, it will continue to try.