In my first-year Russian textbook, a complete chapter was devoted to hailing taxis on the aspect of the highway. Hitchhiking grew to become an nearly formalized system of transportation within the Soviet Union as a result of lack of reasonably priced and well-connected transit choices to journey lengthy distances in additional distant areas. My Russian professor skipped this part solely, noting that the textbook was a bit outdated and that hardly anybody in Russia used this type of transportation anymore following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the appearance of far safer and extra dependable transportation choices.
What my Russian professor failed to think about, nonetheless, is that shared taxis are a ubiquitous type of transportation in lots of former Soviet republics the place infrastructure is weak and automobiles are costly. In Uzbekistan, for instance, shared taxis are the primary type of intercity transportation, despite the fact that the nation has an environment friendly and well-connected high-speed rail system. Though shared taxis would not have a set value, it’s usually cheaper for locals to barter the value of a seat in a taxi than it’s to take the prepare, which will be as much as 4 instances the common value of a shared taxi per seat.
Whereas shared taxis are nonetheless commonplace for each inter- and inner-city journey, the arrival of ridesharing apps in Uzbekistan is altering the transportation scene. YandexGo, the ridesharing subsidiary of Russia’s largest know-how firm, started working in Uzbekistan in April 2018. Beginning in Tashkent and Samarkand, the app has expanded to 10 cities countrywide as of 2024, together with regional capitals like Nukus and Andijan.
Though costs on YandexGo are usually larger than what one would possibly pay if they simply stand on the aspect of the highway and hail a taxi, the app offers a number of tangible advantages for Uzbekistan’s financial development. Centralized marketplaces for taxi drivers permit drivers to select up rides when handy for them, somewhat than aimlessly driving round and searching for prospects, which in the end streamlines enterprise for drivers and offers a uniform mannequin of transit for passengers.
The financial disparity between extra developed regional capitals and smaller cities is extremely stark. The wage hole between the richest area in Uzbekistan (Tashkent) and the poorest (Surkhandarya) greater than doubled between 2020 and 2024. Poverty can be concentrated in rural areas that proceed to be left behind by technological and infrastructure developments, like YandexGo, additional exacerbating the rising financial divide between rural and concrete areas.
In response to the World Financial institution, Uzbekistan’s need to halve the poverty price by 2026 and attain upper-middle-income standing by 2030 will require the federal government to empower the personal sector and transfer towards a extra equitable financial mannequin. Whereas these reforms are vital throughout all sectors, the taxi business represents one space the place this objective has been achieved, largely as a result of emergence of on-line aggregators like YandexGo.
One vital good thing about the rising recognition of on-line taxi app providers is the growing variety of feminine drivers. Options of YandexGo that defend passengers from harassment and crime additionally defend drivers, which is particularly important for girls in each positions, who face excessive charges of sexual harassment and assault in Uzbekistan. Larger security measures for girls within the office are essential to increase the participation of ladies within the labor pressure, which is a central driver of financial progress in growing international locations. As well as, the self-employed, fare-based mannequin of taxi driving decreases the probability of wage theft and gender-based development discrimination, that are two of the best issues dealing with girls who enter the workforce.
When it comes to improvement, transportation infrastructure is particularly vital for international employees and buyers. American funding in Uzbekistan surged in 2018, and never simply in Tashkent. Some smaller cities, like Gulistan and Jizzakh, each of that are district-level capitals, are house to a number of international companies. Regardless of the inflow of foreigners working at such institutions, the cities are outdoors the working space of YandexGo, and it’s nonetheless being decided when they are going to be added to the service zone. This poses an issue for international employees, who’re already usually charged above the market price for lease and subjected to excessive registration charges for residency.
For foreigners, hailing taxis is a every day supply of hysteria. To hail a taxi, one wants substantial language expertise. Foreigners may also be victims of scams and overcharging for taxi rides and sometimes lack the language expertise to adequately negotiate. In contrast to typical ridesharing apps, a person can’t complain if the motive force is impolite, unsafe, or harasses passengers. The options that make ridesharing apps so handy — akin to getting into an actual pickup or drop-off location — are absent when hailing a taxi the old school means, and are changed by in-person interactions. Though these small interactions might not appear vital, the opportunity of sexual harassment for girls and international employees vastly will increase when they’re unable to report drivers. Taxis in Uzbekistan are additionally nearly all the time shared except one specifies that they wish to purchase out your complete taxi and pay 4 instances the usual value, which additionally vastly will increase the opportunity of harassment and offers exit alternatives within the occasion of a harmful scenario.
The shared nature of taxis in Uzbekistan leaves a big diploma of unpredictability in transport. On inner-city journeys, it might take considerably longer some days to get to your vacation spot relying on who else is within the automobile and the place they should be dropped off. On intercity journeys, riders are on the whim of their drivers, who might make random stops or decide up additional passengers.
In cities with YandexGo, some individuals desire to hail a taxi anyway, resulting from lengthy wait instances or lack of obtainable drivers in locations the place YandexGo will not be but the norm. Some desire to barter a value, saying they will get a decrease fare than what’s calculated on the app, whereas some drivers are reluctant to pay a share of their earnings to the corporate.
Whereas costs on YandexGo could be larger than taking a shared taxi, the ride-hailing app possesses most of the options vital to fulfill the calls for of passengers in a quickly rising nation. To fulfill the demand for higher reliability, comfort, and luxury in transportation, many cities have their very own taxi providers, which cost fares based on a standardized meter and function with an official taxi placard on their roof. To make the most of these providers, prospects must cellphone a name heart, the place they’re linked to an operator who asks the place they’re at present situated, the place they wish to go, and different logistical questions like variety of passengers or baggage wants. The operator then connects the caller on to a driver, who asks most of the identical questions however with extra element, and often will give an estimated wait time.
These taxi name facilities, that are fashionable in smaller cities, basically perform the identical perform as a ride-hailing app. Passengers can order a taxi at any time of day, whereas it’s almost inconceivable to hail a taxi early within the morning or previous sunset. They’ll additionally request particular varieties of automobiles and would not have to share with some other passengers, nor have they got to attend for drivers to replenish a automobile earlier than leaving. Passengers pay a set value, with a set beginning value that will increase based mostly on time spent in transit.
A name heart could be a brief resolution to most of the issues that hailing cabs from the highway poses — akin to the opportunity of unregistered drivers, aggressive drivers or passengers, or unfair costs. As well as, prospects can even name the taxi operators to report drivers for unsafe conduct or harassment, offering figuring out info and plate numbers to make sure the motive force will not be employed once more.
Name facilities, nonetheless, nonetheless don’t match as much as ride-hailing apps on the subject of comfort and security, particularly for these missing language expertise. International employees are one of many demographics most affected by this. With out language expertise and information of the native panorama, it’s almost inconceivable for such employees to name a taxi and clarify their must a number of totally different operators and drivers. Within the occasion of harassment, it’s unlikely they will complain to the corporate or take any motion.
As Uzbekistan pushes to increase into international markets, international corporations are opening throughout the nation, even in much less developed areas. With inner-city journey nonetheless largely depending on a casual taxi-hailing system, international employees are sometimes left motionless or sufferer to cost gouging. Taxi drivers should adapt to a brand new demographic of residents who will not be comfy hailing rides from the aspect of the highway, haggling in a language they might not communicate, and trusting drivers with out navigation apps. International funding is a important step in higher financial improvement, particularly in rural areas with a lot of international curiosity however insufficient infrastructure.
To extend total financial improvement in Uzbekistan, and to construct higher equality in rural Uzbekistan, distant areas have to be added to YandexGo’s service zone. It’s unclear when areas like Jizzakh, Sirdaryo, Surkhandarya, or Khorazm would possibly acquire entry to a centralized taxi-hailing service. Till then, each potential riders and taxi drivers searching for a fare will in the end be at an obstacle and subjected to antiquated, inconvenient transport choices.
If extra distant areas can’t adapt to the wants of fixing demographics and labor pressure wants, these areas will proceed to be much less aggressive within the nationwide economic system, thus perpetuating the cycle of inequality between areas of Uzbekistan.
