ABSTRACT
Ride-hailing platforms are often deemed as a poster child for the growing on-demand economy. Best represented by Uber globally, these platforms tout the capacity to improve market efficiency in urban transportation by exploiting slack capacity based on mobile, locative and data-driven technologies. For Srnicek (2016, p. 49), these are ‘lean platforms’ that operate on a business model of minimal asset ownership. Moreover, the rhetoric of algorithm-driven innovation, flexibility in labour relations and ‘entrepreneurial opportunities’ for its ‘driver-partners’ figure prominently in self-promotional discourses. Since its launch in 2009, Uber has witnessed exponential growth. As it expands to different geographic markets, its service lines have also diversified, including the low-cost UberX, the ride-sharing service, UberPOOL, and the most luxurious UberBlack. Yet as many innovations do, it remains controversial and encounters significant regulatory hurdles. While in some jurisdictions it is defined and regulated as transportation network companies, it is illegal in other parts of the world. Its most vocal opponents come from the taxi industry. As taxi companies lobby the government to crack down on their emerging competitor, taxi drivers paralyse various cities by protesting against the ride-hailing platform.
