It seems the message that taxi drivers were trying to get across with their protest has backfired, and rather miserably…
As Dubrovački Dnevnik reported on the 28th of July, 2017, the Director of Dubrovnik Airport, Roko Tolić, has expressed his deep disappointment with the unjustifiable actions of taxi drivers in their protest against Uber yesterday, which took place in several locations around the country, beginning on the Adriatic Highway between Dubrovnik and Konavle.
Tolić stated that despite the fact the airport and the taxi drivers have always had a generally good relationship, and the two naturally work well together, the actions taken yesterday caused a number of significant problems for those using airport services.
”Many were late for their flights, others were unable to use services at the airport throughout the morning. How to explain to tourists why they missed their flights and why their holidays were spoiled? If such a situation continues, Dubrovnik Airport will need to make decisions that will further regulate transportation in the long run in this area,” Tolić warningly said. Talks have already begun with an agency that should see shuttle lines to and from the airport boosted.
While many understood the message the taxi drivers were trying to get across with their actions, it seems the manner in which they conducted their protest, i.e: the needless creation of chaos in Dubrovnik, Split and Zagreb has backfired on the taxi drivers, who claim they were ”not trying to block anything” and ”were not protesting the competition”.
Despite the controversy surrounding the laws, regulations and decisions on the legality of Uber’s services, it seems the service is here to stay. At the of the day, it is the public who choose which service they use. As one quite prominent Dubrovnik politician stated yesterday, if people had any sympathy towards taxi drivers in the past, given yesterday’s events, they probably don’t anymore.
Excerpts taken and translated from Dubrovački Dnevnik
