The crisis between the Nice City Hall and the taxis regarding the agreement between Lignes d’Azur and UBER for a flat-rate night service for public service users was short-lived.
After a protest by a few taxi drivers in front of City Hall early in the morning and an initial meeting between union representatives and the mayor of Nice, an agreement was reached in the afternoon to settle everything to everyone’s satisfaction.
Both parties – City Hall and the Taxi Union – agreed that “this new service provided to Lignes d’Azur subscribers is undeniably a step forward, especially for neighborhoods located along bus routes that cannot be served at night.”
With the latent conflict between taxis and VTCs defused, the solution follows logic: “The principle of a much broader experiment, capable of servicing tram lines 1 and 2 at the same fare per ride as agreed with the VTC company, has thus been endorsed. This offer should be able to cover the hilly area in particular, as well as other metropolitan municipalities like Saint-Laurent du Var and Cagnes-sur-Mer.”
In short, the contested option will expand, be widened beyond the initial agreement’s scope, and form a nucleus of mixed public-private mobility, allowing for better adjustment of supply and demand during low-attendance time slots.
Conclusion? “I am pleased with this positive response, and I immediately asked the Lignes d’Azur Board to meet with the Taxis as soon as possible to carry out this project on a technical level,” the mayor of Nice declared with satisfaction at the end of the day.
One might even say that this minor crisis was beneficial and helped to progress things.
The taxis are joining the game, will get their share, mobility is modernizing, and paving the way for innovative solutions outside the traditional black-and-white schemes.
