Twelve hours a day. 7 days a week. That’s one in two drivers working in Athens, according to a survey conducted by BEAT / FREE NOW in collaboration with the Transportation Technical Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens, under the supervision of Associate Professor K. Kepaptsoglou.
With the cost of using taxi services in Greece being one of the lowest in Europe, the rapid increase in fuel, combined with the accumulated liabilities from the decade-long economic crisis, have reduced the incomes of taxi drivers.
Today, with the demand for taxi services having skyrocketed by + 61% compared to 2019, hundreds of vehicles remain out of operation, due to high operating costs. This has resulted in the suffering of thousands of citizens, who are unable to find a taxi during rush hour.
The NTUA research entitled “Investigation and Evaluation of the Current Situation and Development Policies of the Taxi Market in Athens (2020)” on behalf of BEAT / FREE NOW, presents a series of data, which reflect a grim reality, which underlines the need for State support to professionals in the industry, through the reform of the institutional framework and the use of technology.
Indicatively, according to the results, 67% of taxi drivers in Athens work for more than 12 hours a day, making 20% of their kilometers empty without a passenger. In fact, 96.3% of drivers answered that they work six days a week, with 55.3% declaring seven days of work in order to make ends meet.
This difficult economic reality has resulted in the existing fleet not being significantly renewed, which leads to more air pollution and noise in the city. In practice, in order for a driver to earn a decent income, he must significantly upset the balance of his professional and personal life.
The main points of the Research are reflected in the Report “Driving a taxi in Greece (2022)”, while the full text will be sent in the near future to all institutions of urban transport.
On the occasion of the publication of the Report, the General Manager of BEAT / FREE NOW in Greece, Aspa Topalidou, stressed: “We as citizens are accustomed to having complaints from drivers, but for the first time we have in our hands a study that proves the difficult conditions in which operate daily on the streets.
The results of the Survey leave no room for different interpretations. The competent bodies of the State and the Ministry of Transport need to immediately step into the market and support the drivers. The shrinking of their incomes, caused by the energy crisis, as well as the high operating costs due to critical distortions of the market operation, end up in the suffering of thousands of passengers every day.
As the No. 1 taxi finding application in Greece, we support in practice the work of drivers, offering them through a specially designed incentive program up to 460 euros per month in addition, for those who work with us in the near future. In addition, through the “BEAT DRIVERS CLUB” loyalty and reward program that we recently announced, we contribute to the better balance of their personal and professional life, through benefits that include health services, catering, acquisition and maintenance of their vehicles. We remain by their side and support their daily work with specific proposals and initiatives “.
Source: Capital
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