Taxi companies throughout the Netherlands are not or hardly benefiting from the five-day strikes that are currently taking place within regional transport. This is evident from a tour of TaxiPro. The reasons for this vary widely: from willingness to take action to rural culture.
“I can’t say that it’s that much busier than normal,” says Marcel of Taxi Den Helder. . “Here in Den Helder, the willingness to strike among regional transport drivers is very low. Most of the buses just drive here. We did have a few extra calls today, but that’s really not the world.”
Rural culture Also Taxi Wim Jans from Drenthe has not noticed much of the five-day strike. “I have not noticed this strike at all. I have not received any additional calls.” According to Jans, this is partly due to the rural culture in the north. “Here in the countryside, most people can provide their own transport,” he explains. “The schoolchildren who go to Meppel by bus now mainly go to school by bicycle. In any case not by taxi, because that is often too expensive.”
In Nijmegen, at Citax Nijmegen Electric, few or no extra calls have been received. “We think that people took this strike into account and that they mainly worked at home,” says owner Richard. “We don’t have more or less work than usual. Actually, it is just business as usual.”
In Limburg, the fork is slightly different in the stem. There, the owner of PackTaxi (Heerlen) did notice an increase in the number of journeys, due to the five-day strike in regional transport. “It is busier. More people now take the taxi for short distances. You notice a difference especially at stations. Normally you stand there for hours doing nothing. Now you actually have a price every ten minutes.”
Profit The other companies that TaxiPro spoke to benefit less of the strike. When asked if they don’t mind, Jans resolutely replies: “No. I’m at the end of my taxi career. Next week I will celebrate my 01th birthday. Then I want to work a lot less than I do now. I have always promised myself that and I have also promised my wife. So I’m going to stick to that too.”
Marcel of Taxi Den Helder is also not disappointed that his company only benefits sparingly from the strikes. “No, I don’t regret that at all. I understand why people decide to go on strike, but people are always the victims of that. That means that you end up getting people in your taxi who would rather not have gotten into your taxi. So they step into your car with a negative feeling. Then you end up with a lot of grumbling in your car, while I can’t help it either. As far as those strikes are concerned, I hope that a solution will be found soon.”
Read also:
Taxi companies benefit from regional transport strike Rotterdam taxi companies benefit from rising passenger numbers Zestienhoven Taxi companies are gradually benefiting from the NS strike: ‘We expected it to be busier’
Comments are closed.