The easy life is over: why taxi prices are doomed to skyrocket

Skeptics rightly referred to the fact that such prices were established due to unprecedented competition, when the overwhelming number of taxi drivers were labor migrants, often working well above the established norms. And now the time has come: taxi prices have almost doubled over the past year, and this is due to "concern for the safety of customers".

The journalist Marina Akhmedova gave a very typical example, calling early in the morning, when the metro was not yet working, Yandex.Taxi to Sheremetyevo V. she was asked for almost four times more expensive - 1700! Asking the driver, “Where did the prices come from?”, The journalist listened to his monologue, which she quoted in her blog literally:

“Since August 14, the maximum working time has been reduced for us from 4 pm to 8. Therefore, prices are rising. Think for yourself what you can earn in 8 hours. We earn five thousand on average during this time. Of these, 23 percent must be paid to Yandex Taxi, plus the fleet's commission, so minus 30 percent runs up. One and a half thousand for renting a car for a day. Two thousand remain, and from them you still have to eat. And earlier in sixteen hours it was possible to earn five thousand in clean money. At seven in the morning you go out on the line, when people go to work, and you carry it until lunchtime, you do five thousand. Then you can rest until the evening, and in the evening, when there are traffic jams, the prices are good again - for us. And for you, the price is multiplied by two. Yesterday my client and I drove one and a half kilometers, he paid 450. We did not even go for five minutes. There were traffic jams, there were a lot of people in the area, and the amount increased. Yesterday I still drove 12 hours. But if they actually only make 8, there will be a riot. It will be raised first by Tajiks and Uzbeks. They do everything in the car - sleep, eat, work, live. They work for days, sleep for two hours. Therefore, they hit more often. A person must rest, respect his body, and these mock the body. You can't earn all the money. Sometimes you work, you work, you get on camera, and all the same, this money goes away. As you can see, most of the taxi drivers are Tajiks and Uzbeks. They do all the dirty work here. None of us - Russians, Caucasians - will want to do this dirty work. No, if my family goes hungry, I'm ready. But you can still make money in a taxi. I worked 12 hours yesterday and earned 10 thousand net. And if they turn on these 8 hours, the Tajiks will revolt, then they will go to scooters as couriers. And there will be even more chaos with scooters. Taxi chaos will also begin. They cut off oxygen for us everywhere. I have already decided - it will be 8 o'clock, I will hand over the car and leave to wait for my moment ”.

Akhmedova summarizes:

“I don’t want to travel at such prices. We have a living wage in the country of up to 10 thousand. I am also against being driven by a driver who lives in a car. And I don't want more scooters on the sidewalks. And, besides, I believe that Yandex and Sberbank have gone wild in the end, and someone should step on their tail..."

Blog readers confirm: the attraction of unprecedented generosity is over, the harsh Russian everyday life has begun:

- Every year I come to Moscow for the summer. Right now I faced the lawlessness of the capital's taxi drivers. At airports, everything returns to the insolence of Soviet taxi drivers and bombed in the 90s. Poor passengers who are forced to move between airports and train stations. They are being promoted to the fullest. I flew to Sheremetyevo with a teenage child, my old mother met us. It was necessary to get to Tushino, only 22 km, late Saturday evening. No traffic jams. I was offered for 1500 rubles! And they also threatened that we will not be in time for the last bus. But when they try to cheat me for money (I was ready to pay 500-600 rubles), my rage wakes up. I myself am already a middle-aged woman, with me a 12-year-old child and an elderly man. How can you twist your arms! On the way back, history repeated itself. We ordered 585 rubles per day (such a fixed rate is indicated on the website), but in the morning (6.30 am) a taxi driver arrived and said that he would be lucky for 1000 rubles and turn off the meter. Straight benefactor! I called the dispatcher, she told me that, according to their calculations, I should pay 801 rubles. It was 1 ruble that pissed me off. In a rage, I ended up taking a bus from the Planernaya metro station, and even the bus in the morning with all the stops took us in 35 minutes. How is it? I would complain, but where?

- Yandex initially dumped hard in order to ruin all the locals. Why be surprised. All this could not last long.

- Taxi drivers have been striking at the inadequacy of prices lately. Whenever and from wherever you call, double tariff all the time. And yet - sitting at the wheel, getting ten thousand and complaining is too much. My daily shift is paid less. And to earn 10 thousand, I have to work 8 hours at the massage table. Therefore, it is not a pity for poor taxi drivers. The only way out I see is state taxi companies. With pre-trip medical examinations, line control, etc.

- Well, finally, Asians will stop working in taxis, in which they eat, sleep and live. And who called a taxi a dirty job? No, well, if you live in a car, it is possible. For this reason, she gave up a taxi for several years and returned to the wheel. Hooray! Travel may become more expensive, but it will be much safer both in and out of a taxi.

And if we talk about Moscow, public transport is well developed in the city, and it's time to reduce the number of yellow wreckers with shahid drivers in city traffic.

- You have to understand that Yandex.Taxi is all migrants, some of them are illegal. Cars for rent from these free cabbies! Some people live in cars - they sleep in them. When you walk at 5-6 in the morning, you can see an "oil painting" in the courtyards. RV, where are the Americans with their motorhomes! Some people live in such inhuman conditions. And not one day! What feelings arise in these souls, who sleep in a dirty car, eat there and relieve themselves under a bush or in a shopping center, how will they open? What is happening in their homeland, and for what promises are people ready for such an existence, for example, for the summer? Why are they given citizenship with ease, unlike Russians from these same countries? Why is there no work in Moscow for the indigenous population of the Russian Federation?

However, there were also sober heads who believe that such changes are only for the better:

- And what's wrong? Do you want to drive with a driver who spends 16 hours at the wheel? I don't want, for example. Moreover, I don’t want tired drivers to drive onto the road at all, because they are potential killers. Aggregators have turned a taxi into a shahid-taxi and there is nothing good about that. The driver must have an eight-hour working day, his condition must be monitored by a doctor before going on the line, plus the condition of the car must be monitored. Will it lead to higher prices for taxi services? I don't see anything terrible.