Feature: Fierce competition, long working hours take toll on Toulouse taxi service

Arriving late at night from Strasbourg, two passengers discovered at the beginning of the week that the taxi service in Toulouse is troubled by a lack of professionalism.

Entering a taxi in a queue at the Toulouse airport on Monday, Feb. 16, their first ride did not last longer than 30 seconds. The driver, following a curse-laden dispute with another taxi driver, ejected the passengers from his car without explanation, only to hand them over to the other driver.

The second man drove a dirty car that smelled of body odor, and informed the passengers that he only accepted cash, though only after he had begun driving.

He also seemed to have a bad knowledge of Toulouse, insisting on an address, even though the passengers had asked to be taken to a well-known hotel next to the main train station. But he still appeared to be a licensed driver.

"So, where are you coming from?" he asked without enthusiasm.

Contacted on Thursday by Xinhua, a representative of the Toulouse airport taxi service apologized for the incident, but insisted that such experiences were "very very rare."

Meanwhile, taxi drivers in Toulouse are under stress that may be affecting service quality, as increased competition for passengers find licensed taxi drivers battling with private chauffeurs and non-professionals using the smartphone application Uber.

"The private chauffeurs have different clientele than we do, people who are wealthier," one driver said. "But there isn't enough business in Toulouse for them to live, so they start to break the rules and hedge in on our customers."

The private chauffeurs are still licensed and insured, he admitted, unlike non-professional drivers using Uber, an application for smart phones that allows people looking for rides to connect with potential drivers.

"With Uber they're not insured to carry passengers, they don't pay for professional licenses and registration, and they don't pay taxes on anything: it's all cash in their pockets," he said.

The French Interior Ministry recently banned Uber's low cost service UberPOP, making it illegal as of Jan. 1, 2015, for conflicting with French laws which prohibit transporting people for profit without proper licenses. For the ban to be enforced, however, legal action has to be taken on the local level.

"Until the local prefectures make injunctions against Uber, people keep using it," another driver said.

Quality issues may also stem from long hours, with licensed drivers working exhausting shifts to make up for fewer passengers. One driver reported she began work at 4:30 a.m. every day and finished around 6 p.m., without a real break.

Other drivers reported taking very little time off.

"You don't really take holidays as a taxi driver," said one man.

The fourth-largest metropolitan area in France, Toulouse is known as an important tourist destination, and also as a major aeronautical center, with the Airbus headquarters and thousands of Airbus suppliers in the vicinity. Endit