Uber 'in talks' to bring popular taxi service to Aberdeen

Global taxi firm Uber has confirmed it's in talks to bring its popular service to Aberdeen.

A spokesperson for Uber confirmed discussions are ongoing with city officials about applying for a licence in Aberdeen.

The company declined to give any further details whilst the process is ongoing.

It comes after plans to launch the service in the city back in 2019 fell through.

A shortage of taxis in Aberdeen has been a hot discussion topic in recent years after driver numbers have failed to restore following the pandemic.

Roulè Wood, Business Engagement and Project Manager at Aberdeen Inspired took to LinkedIn last week to share a 'global taxi operator' had met with stakeholders and Aberdeen City Council to discuss the possibility of launching in the area.

In the post, she mentioned we have a "very complicated" set of rules which "does not serve the public".

Her post read: "Aberdeen is one of a few places in Scotland who demand private hire car drivers (taxis we book in advance) pass the local “knowledge test” rank taxi drivers have to pass before they can apply for a licence.

"The pass rate is under 20% and it takes on average 22 weeks (some say longer) for a new driver to get on the road.

"Our test hasn’t been updated for a good number of years. There is no rule prohibiting sat nav tools, used successfully around the world, which has led many local authorities to reconsider the essential criteria.

"An Aberdeen city licenced taxi can only pick up fares (people) in Aberdeen city, and if they drop off in the Shire, they are not permitted to pick up a fare in the Shire unless that fare's destination is the city.

"A driver cannot have both a city and a shire licence -It is the car that is licensed, so they could have another car parked at city boundaries but that sounds like a bit of a carry on, no? Only taxis with an airport permit can pick up at the airport rank.

"Other taxis must leave the airport with an empty car (unless collecting a pre-booked fare) *I must add that on occasion the airport allows city taxis to collect from the airport rank when it’s very busy. Only taxis with a train station permit can pick up from the station rank. And so on and so on."

Bob Keiller, CEO of Our Union Street met with bosses at Uber last week and he says he's "happy" about the news but is hoping it doesn't have a negative impact on existing Aberdeen taxi companies.

He said: "I do have a slight concern that people think if Uber turn up then we're going to have a lot more availability of taxis.

"Uber need to use drivers that are already licenced by the city therefore, in the short-term, it's going to take a while to attract new drivers to become qualified - and the process that takes just now is quite difficult and it takes a little bit of time.

"I think anything that improves the supply of taxis and attracts more drivers into the industry has to be good for the local economy. I'd also like to see the existing taxi firms attracting more drivers to do that - the testing regime is part of that.

"People need to realise that being a taxi driver has got some really good advantages, you've got real flexibility over your work hours and in Aberdeen its pretty well paid.

"There's still a challenge for us all and I think Uber - now that they've declared their intent to come to Aberdeen - is a welcome part to the mix."

It's understood meetings will take place in the coming weeks between taxi firms to discuss the matter.

An Aberdeen City Council spokesperson said: “The Council as a Licensing Authority will determine any licensing application in line with the current statutory framework and is not in a position to comment on possible future applications.”