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Fall 2017
the Norwegian police decided that Uber wasn’t legal in Norway. Services like
uber black, lux and XXL is legal. In the start of 2018 there was talk about Uber
doing a comeback, some of the requirements were that all the drivers needed a cab
licence and pre- decided prices for pre ordered travels says an article in E24
from February 2018 ( https://e24.no/naeringsliv/uber/uber-vil-gjoere-comeback-i-norge/24263394
).
Uber is a
form of sharing economy, this means that ¨the
individual person can sell their services or rent out belongings directly or by
help of a communication company¨ (3’ party business) (https://www.skatteetaten.no/person/skatt/hjelp-til-riktig-skatt/arbeid-trygd-og-pensjon/hobby-ekstrainntekt-og-smajobber/delingsokonomi/
). Some may also call it gig economy, which is more used internationally. I
would also describe Uber as a Network economy, because the value is in the users.
The company is gaining on there being a network of drivers and network of
customers.
This post is going to be about pros and cons about Uber, so far, we have discussed how the situation with uber is in Norway and we have brought in some economics. I personally have never used Uber, Just a taxi once or twice on vacation. In Norway public transportation is so good, at least around the major cities. The only time I would think about using a taxi or a service like uber is when it is so late that the busses have stopped going or if it is too early, but that kind of never happens. So, I don’t really care if Uber does a comeback in Norway or not…
The pros of Uber in the country’s that they are in first of all is availability and easy use. With Uber you don’t have to wait outside or go some were to get were your going, the Uber driver will be right outside your door. That is a huge minus with the bus system, they pick you up from a place you’re not and drive you to a place you’re not going. Uber is also a cheaper alternative than a taxi, but not cheaper than the public transportation system, at least in Norway. One definite positive side to Uber versus public transportation is Uber’s versatility and drive towards innovation. They are currently working on Uber Air, and yes this is a flying uber, a type of helicopter that works with Uber’s systems regarding travelling. Uber already has a large variety of services like Uber, uber lux, black, XXL, Uber eats, Uber business, Uber Freigth and jump sycles, with the possibility of more services coming like uber air (https://www.uber.com/no/nb/elevate/ ). And the last positive side I can think of is price, the price will change depending on how many people are using the service.
There are
also some negative sides with Uber. These include not guaranteed safety (you
don’t know if you can trust the driver in some cases), price (its often not cheaper
than public transportation), availability can be a limitation (in arias were there
are few people living, there won’t be as many drivers). Honestly, I can’t think
of many negative sides, but trust is a big challenge for the service.
Trust is an essential part of taking a Uber. Our hole life we have been told that we should not go in to strangers cars, but Uber built there business model on the oppiset. When you go into a situation like this you do a Trust leap. Rachel Botsman talks about the trust leap in a TED talk, we watch this in class and I would highly recommend you watching it (https://www.ted.com/talks/rachel_botsman_we_ve_stopped_trusting_institutions_and_started_trusting_strangers/transcript#t-77049 ).
To conclude
a bit, I will say this. If Uber made a comeback in Norway, I would consider
using the service if I had to, meaning if I needed to go somewhere and I could
not take the bus. I would love to hear wat you think in the comments.
-Carmen
More info:
English
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_economy
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sharing-economy.asp
Norwegian
https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delings%C3%B8konomi