taxi

Taxi drivers have protested against the new car shifts implemented as of last week. The new shift system affects all Barcelona taxis and it has been designed to reduce the number of cars on the streets in order to increase drivers’ profits by reducing the available taxis at a given time. However, some taxi drivers think the new shifts cause their turnover to drop. For this reason they have decided to protest by not serving Barcelona El Prat Airport or Barcelona Sants Station with cabs on Monday afternoon. The Metropolitan Taxi Institute, in charge of managing the sector, has already announced “talks” with taxi union representatives to “evaluate” the new system.

Barcelona’s Metropolitan Taxi Institute (IMET) will apply a flat rate from next year, which could be set at €15 for trips from or to El Prat Airport. The measure would only apply to taxis belonging to Barcelona and its metropolitan area. Beyond searching for “short term” measures to adapt the taxi sector to a drop of about 40% in demand because of the crisis, the IMET, along with the taxi organisations, are working to get back into the market.

The ‘Taksee’ application, available for Android and iPhone, uses Internet connection to call a cab.