On Wednesday October 5th, around 30 members of the “Frente Común de Concesionarios, Choferes, Taxistas y Transportistas” of Guanajuato (an organization of taxi drivers and public transportation providers), held a peaceful protest outside the Government House, in order to demand the withdrawal of public executive transport in the state.
The protesters made a call to transport authorities to prevent unfair competition, through this new mode of online based public transportation system, which began to provide service two months ago in the state of Guanajuato.
However, in the city of Guanajuato the regulation establishes that these kind of executive taxis could not start operation until Monday October, 31 2016.
In different municipalities along the state, such as Guanajuato, Silao, León, Salamanca, Celaya, San Miguel de Allende and Dolores Hidalgo, taxi drivers joined in a committee of six representatives, who were received by the Secretariat of Government advisor, Julio Ortiz, who delivered a list of demands.
Juan Manuel Betanzos and Roberto Martinez Pastrana, members of the “Frente Común de Concesionarios, Choferes, Taxistas y Transportistas” pointed out that Uber began to provide service at least 2 months ago in Guanajuato capital.
“Many violations have been committed to the “Law of Mobility”; because they were supposed to start operating until October, 31”, Betanzos said.
According to Juan Manuel Betanzos, Uber providers don’t use their online platform and even make use of radio systems. Also, they cannot park to wait for passengers, but they do.
“In addition to those irregularities, Uber drivers are providing services at the Guanajuato International Airport (IAG),” Betanzos continued.
According to reports, in the city of Guanajuato, over 60 Uber vehicles are working through their app, not knowing whether or not if they fulfill the requirements requested by law.
The protesters expressed their regret at state authorities that so far, have not intervened to restore the order at a state level.
In the case of Guanajuato capital, two other companies work under an Uber’s similar system: Gold Line and Platinum.
“For us, this competition is unfair, because they do not fulfill the transport regulations, while the authorities are constantly checking on us. The government let them work without any problem and that’s not fair,” Betanzos concluded.
The demonstration passed peacefully from early morning until the afternoon, when the taxi drivers retired to their respective municipalities, with the promise of support from state authorities.
Source: http://www.am.com.mx