When Uber descends on a new city, there are always complications but once the dust settles most cities have been able to compromise to allow the transportation company to operate within its area. Our city saw the first signs of Uber in October of last year but to date the app is not fully operational in town. On Tuesday, Uber patrons who opened the app on their smart phones found a pop up screen asking ‘Want Uber in Macau? Click here to send an email to Secretary Rosario (Secretary of Transport) in support of the company operating in Macau’. Uber is making a big push to win over Macau after successfully establishing itself globally and in Mainland China but will it win its bet with Macau? Let’s look at the pros of ride sharing companies that customers love: cheerful customer service, scheduled pick-ups, cash free transactions, pick-up and drop-off at specific locations, and receiving fare estimates prior to ride. Cons for the company fall into the realm of long time taxi drivers’ earnings could decrease, job regulation could come into question and the possible threat of illegal workers is at stake. Weighing all of the pros and cons, is Uber good or is it ‘uber’ bad? Macau’s Transport Bureau (DSAT) has a great digital application for our bus transit system and I think that a taxi app could be equally well received. If we look at the pros of a ride sharing app like Uber, we could provide these services with public or at least government approved transit. We could absolutely provide scheduled pick-ups and we could even use a financial interface using WeChat or Facebook that could facilitate payments by credit card. Ultimately, Macau could provide a strong compromise for consumers. Looking at other similar cities that rebelled against Uber; Las Vegas’ taxi driver union blocked Uber for the better part of two years but in the end allowed the company to exist. The inherent issue is that international tourists and locals, familiar with the conveniences of Uber desire the ease of use in all of their cities of travel and residence. I believe that we should evaluate our transport options to provide the best for our visitors. Regardless of timeline; as an international city, we should have better options for transportation so that getting around our city is ‘uber’ convenient.
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