Three months after Uber and Lyft launched locally, local taxi drivers and owner-operators grapple with lost business

Motoring down Interstate 105 on a frigid Monday night, Go Taxi driver Noah Zuniga is navigating both the fog that has settled over the valley like a thick shroud and an uncertain future at the wheel.

Almost three months have passed since ride-hailing's return to the Eugene-Springfield area, and Zuniga, like many of his peers, is feeling the pain from competition by Lyft and Uber.

Fares in October and November were "brutally slow," he said, cutting his typical pre-tax take-home pay roughly by a third to less than $1,000 a month.

Zuniga, who turned 32 on Saturday, said he's looking at job ads and plans to make a switch in the new year if the dry spell extends through December. But he's wary of returning to work as a line cook, his former gig before he accepted a recruitment offer from Go Taxi — among the area's smaller taxi fleets with three cars — 18 months ago.

"If I could keep driving and make a livable wage, that would be ideal," said Zuniga, who drives 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. Friday through Monday. "It's not the most glamorous lifestyle, but it's not the worst."

Interviews with more than a half-dozen owner-operators and drivers show Uber and Lyft's arrival has quickly put a dent in the finances of local taxi companies and their drivers. Fewer fares have caused taxi drivers to jump ship to drive for other taxi companies, leave the industry entirely or even join their ride-hailing competitors.

The impact has been most pronounced for late-shift taxi drivers who are largely dependent on bar patrons and other nightlife seekers, many of whom are college students and young professionals who have migrated en masse to ride-hailing, they said. Contracted medical transport calls continue to provide dayside drivers with a steady, albeit discounted, volume of fares.

Taxi drivers typically pay a set fee to lease a taxi from a company or owner-operator for a set shift, typically 12 hours. Any money they earn after paying the fee and gas is theirs to keep.

At least one taxi company owner is mulling a downsize. Others are defiant, confident that the newness of ride-hailing eventually will wear off.

Mike Spurling, owner of Go Taxi, recently hired a third full-time dispatcher to improve customer service.

"It caused me to really ... up our game, so to speak, and offer more and be more reliable and give customers access to the technology that is changing the way we do business," he said.

Taxi drivers said they understand the allure of ride-hailing's technology, which many local taxi companies have mimicked in an effort to remain competitive: Tap a few buttons on a smartphone and, voilà, a driver in his or her personal vehicle appears within minutes for the prepaid trip. Zuniga said he uses the ride-hailing app when out of town due to the convenience.

Earlier this year, Erik Groomer, an owner-operator for Oregon Taxi, told the Eugene City Council that in some respects he considered himself "a member of the candlemakers guild opposing the electric light bulb."

"It's a use of technology that makes sense," he said in February, as the city's elected leaders were considering loosening the regulations to allow ride-hailing to resume.

Uber had suspended its operations in 2015 after less than a year, after the city had filed a lawsuit and a city hearings official ruled that it must secure a city license to operate. Uber relaunched on Sept. 6 to much fanfare, a day after Lyft began operating.

With a mix of puzzlement, bemusement and frustration, taxi drivers have observed how quickly and strongly college students, young professionals and others have migrated to ride-hailing. They dispute that ride-hailing offers a cheaper alternative and also contend that the concerns over long wait times are overblown; no, taxis can't be as quick as Uber and Lyft, but patience-straining waits are rare, they said.

Deb Jervey, a dayside driver for Go Taxi who said she's lost business to ride-hailing, recalled how a young man waved her off recently at the Eugene Airport when she asked if he needed ride, responding he had an Uber on the way. With increasing exasperation, she watched the man wait in the terminal for his ride before she finally left after 20 minutes.

"Why are you waiting inside in the airport for someone who is going to charge you more?" she asked.

Drivers wonder about the impact of this convenience-at-all-cost mentality, and some say it even whiffs of classicism.

Hawk Phillips, a driver and trainer for Oregon Taxi, said he drove for both ride-hailing companies in Portland for eight months and was put off by how customers would cancel a reservation if he hadn't arrived within one or two minutes.

"They're just that nit-picky about 'I want to be picked up right now,'" he said Tuesday morning, after spending about 10 minutes waiting for an elderly man in a walker to emerge from his home for a quick trip to a nearby cell phone repair business. The fare came to $6.75 — the customer paid $6 after a senior discount — while Uber would have charged $7.15, according to a check of its app.

In another example, a fare in Zuniga's taxi Monday night from the Red Robin restaurant near Valley River Center to a neighborhood in Springfield cost $18.75; Uber's calculated fare was 2 cents cheaper, according to its app.

Phillips said he made significantly less in tips driving for Uber than a taxi, a difference he attributed to the hands-off business transaction of ride-hailing and typically seeing those customers one time. Taxi drivers pick up customers who call dispatch or flag them down on the streets, but they get a good portion of their business from regulars.

Denise Guelld, owner of Budget Taxi, which runs more than a dozen vehicles, said ride-hailing's cash-free approach leaves taxi drivers picking up poorer and older customers who may not be able to pay electronically or don't trust or don't want to learn the technology.

"They're out there picking cream," she said of Uber and Lyft. "They're not out there when it's down and dirty."

Guelld, who started her company 34 years ago, said nighttime fares have dried up for her drivers who used to receive about 80 calls on an average night.

"Now that Uber's here, it's like a ghost town," she said.

Guelld said ending nighttime service is one option available to her. In the meantime, Budget Taxi is running fewer cabs on some nights.

"You can't have 10 people out there earning nothing," she said. "You're better off having two people earning something."

Some area drivers have switched to ride-hailing services. Laurel, who asked that her last name not be used due to concerns about retaliation, quit as an Oregon Taxi driver two weeks ago and has begun driving for Lyft. She said her nighttime fares while working as a taxi driver had diminished by about half.

Laurel, who's driven a cab for seven years, said she's not happy at all about switching to her former competitor. But nearing 60 and dealing with bad knees, driving remains her best option to make money to pay her bills.

She said her check for her first week of work with Lyft was close to her old take-home pay with Oregon Taxi, but she still needs to subtract her expenses, including gas and the $321 monthly payment for the 2017 Nissan Rogue she bought to be able to drive for the ride-hailing service.

She is none too happy with the wear and tear she's putting on her personal vehicle to be able to drive customers.



"It's been hard and stressful dealing with it," Laurel said.

Groomer, the Oregon Taxi owner-operator who runs six vehicles, said his business has taken a big hit with nighttime fares down about half.

"I've lost more than half of my drivers in the last three month, and I've been having to recruit pretty heavily," he said.

While some recruits ask him if they can support their family by driving a cab, Groomer said he can no longer say yes.

Owner-operators own and maintain their vehicles and recruit and schedule their drivers, but contract with a taxi company for dispatch, marketing and back-office services.

It's a reversal of fortune for Groomer, who quit a job with a six-figure salary as a substation technician for the Eugene Water & Electric Board, to grow his own business in the taxi industry about six years ago.

The risk initially paid off as Groomer said he was able to recoup close to his EWEB salary.

Uber's first run in the area cost Groomer and his drivers about 20 percent of their business. When the ride-hailing company suspended operations, he prepared for its return by making his business as efficient as possible. He hired a manager and moved to electronic scheduling.

"I was determined I was going to survive," he said.

Groomer says he's committed to continuing as an owner-operator as long as the business remains viable, but he has obtained a real estate license to earn some extra income.

"I have to choose whether or not it's going to embitter me," he said. "I choose not to, but it's in the process of taking away from my livelihood. I'm not happy about it. It's convenience that drives it. I don't think it's a net benefit for the community here."

Local owner-operators said they're making improvements to stay competitive and said they're local roots can give them a leg up.

Guelld said good customer service "and trusting and knowing that the people picking you up passed the test of the city and the test of time" is imperative.

Oregon Taxi is the area's largest taxi company, with 66 vehicles and about 115 drivers.

Ride-hailing has cut into Oregon Taxi's business, although General Manager Jay Mayernik declined to provide specifics. The company also has lost some drivers, he said.

Owner-operators previously supervised the training of their drivers, Mayernik said, but the company has now designated one employee, Hawk Phillips, to manage the work. The company is also providing more classroom and ride-along instruction.



Before ride-hailing, Mayernik said the company was constantly having to recruit drivers to fill vacancies. But less work has allowed Oregon Taxi to take its foot off the accelerator in that regard.

The company is evaluating price, on-time arrival, driver professionalism and vehicle cleanliness, Mayernik said. Response times have improved with ride-hailing in town, he said, with 80 percent of taxis arriving within 15 minutes after a call, and 60 percent reaching their destination with 10 minutes.

"In any industry and in any business, competition causes you to evaluate and improve certain aspects of your business and that's something that we've been doing and something that we're going to continue to do," he said.

Some of the changes have been simple. A survey by RideSource, for instance, found medical transport riders most valued on-time arrival of drivers. No 2? Having a front-seat free of clutter so they can easily sit next to the driver, Phillips said.

Phillips, who said he hasn't had his take-home pay affected by ride-hailing, said it's that personal touch and local connection that will help keep taxis competitive.

"I'm supporting the guys who work here and breathe the same air that I breathe," he said.

Follow Christian Hill on Twitter @RGchill. Email christian.hill@registerguard.com.