A Belgian taxi drivers’ co-op has launched a ride-sharing app in Brussels, Uride, as an alternative to corporate platforms like Uber and Bolt.
Uride is the latest example of platform co-operativism in the taxi trade, with established examples including Drivers Co-operative in New York City, Bharat Taxi in India and the USA’s Green Taxi Cooperative.
Users can book taxi rides in Brussels through the app, which aims to “empower drivers through co-operative governance”. Drivers are being promised greater say in the running of the business, and will be able to join the underlying co-operative, called Unit, and will be eligible to sit on its board.
“Whether they are independent, affiliated with a platform, or have been active for years, drivers share a daily life of long hours, uncertainty, decisions made without their input, and often a lack of recognition,” says Unit co-op. Unit is a collective response to this reality. Because alone, we suffer. But united, we build.
Unit says it already has 200 drivers are registered on the platform, 90 of whom have joined the co-op. Co-op members pay 10% in platform fees, compared to 15% for non-members.
Customers can also join, with members enjoying a 10% discount on journeys. A share costs €100 for drivers and customers alike.
“This is far from the 25 to 35% that drivers have to pay to platforms,” co-op founder Jean-Paul Ngomba Mbenti told the Brussels Times.
Mbenti was inspired to form the co-op, based in Saint-Gilles, after protesting agains the fees that apps like Uber charge drivers to use the platform. He s an alternative that would “give control back to the drivers and offer them a fairer price.”
Uride is being supported by Crédal, an ethical finance co-op that also offers support and advice to project leaders and social economy actors. If the launch in Brussels is a success, the goal is to expand across the country.
