Meeting between taxi associations, Uber officials ends without consensus

The latest chapter in the saga between Uber Barbados and members of local taxi associations continued yesterday as the two parties met behind closed doors, ultimately failing to find common ground on matters of “basic principle”.

From 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m., the Uber directors and members representing several taxi associations met at Hilton Barbados in Needhams Point, St Michael, where they sought to reach a consensus on matters relating to Uber’s operations.

President of the Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-Op Society, Adrian Bayley, opted not to disclose the particulars of the meeting to this newspaper, but lamented that negotiations broke down after nearly three hours of discussion.

“We came here this morning and thought we could have come to a common ground but, apparently, we have not reached a common ground. All negotiations have broken down but we are willing to come back, or the Government would guide us on how we should go forward from here,” Bayley said.

He said that on Tuesday he met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw. It was said that Uber was to first meet with stakeholders before proceeding to launch to the public on Tuesday.

Soft launch

The members said they felt disrespected that Tuesday’s launch at Hilton Barbados proceeded as planned in a small meet-and-greet featuring several industry stakeholders followed by a meeting with Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley on Wednesday.

He said on Tuesday, stakeholders were assured that all operations with Uber would go on pause, noting that the same Tuesday, Uber officials held a soft launch.

“It was disrespectful to us because they were told that we were going to meet with them but, at the end of the day, we were not given that chance and this is where we are today,” he added.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Uber responded to claims that the service was put on hold, clarifying that Uber’s ride-sharing service was still available for use, pointing out it would not be operating at the Bridgetown Port during the 2025/2026 winter season.

Membership

Some members of the taxi fraternity admitted to feeling aggrieved by Uber’s approach of licensed taxi drivers, some of whom were already members of the various associations.

Offering figures on the estimated membership of taxi drivers signed across the country, Bayley revealed that the numbers show 4 500 taxis operating on the roads of Barbados, including Zs and ZMs.

The Bridgetown Port Taxi Co-Op counts 170 operators in their rank, the Airport fraternity counted 280 and over 200 were among the Lower and Upper Broad Street groups, with the

remaining figures accounting for the Accra and West Coast associations.

At Tuesday’s launch, general manager for Uber in the Caribbean, Belen Romero, noted that 400 licensed drivers signed on to Uber, a number which Bayley challenged in its validity.

“I think Uber was pulling numbers from out of the sky being that they moved from having 72 drivers one day and by the end of the day, they had 400. I don’t know anything about that but I can assure you, the stakeholders who are here now, none of us have been signed up with Uber,” he said.

Blindsided

Additionally, members of the taxi associations said they felt blindsided by the ride-hailing company’s entry into the local market, claiming they were never informed until it was reported by the local media.

“To be quite honest, this came in like a hot air . . . . Uber policy was to come into Barbados and basically sign up as much taxi operators that they can get to do the business. We heard about Uber 13 days ago when this surfaced among most of the taxi operators in Barbados. We were never invited at any meetings, with Government stating that Uber was applying to . . . operate in Barbados.

“So I would say the first time I heard about it, it came in the news. And my colleague, who is the vice-president at the airport, was the first person to disseminate the information in the chats for most of the taxi operators.

“Coming out of the discussions in those chats, there was a big resentment for Uber to operate in Barbados, but we understand it’s an open economy and Uber has the right to come in and operate as a franchise but, at the end of the day, there was no respect to the stakeholders,” Bayley added.

The Weekend Nation approached Uber representatives at Hilton Barbados, who said the communications spokesperson for Uber would send a statement. Up to press time it was not forthcoming.

Also present at the meeting were parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Works, Dr Romel Springer, and director of the Barbados Transport Authority, Ruth Holder.

Springer, who addressed some of the taxi operators’ concerns outside the meeting, told this newspaper that an official statement from the ministry would be sent in due time.