Uber’s journey to Aberdeen is one that dates back more than a decade, and it’s one that has stalled more often than even the most novice cabbie.
With the American firm finally granted a licence to operate in the city, now for the second time, we look back at the bumps in the road along the way.
The approval came despite fury from the hard-pressed local taxi industry, with bosses lashing against the rival outfit.
So what has changed in the city since the idea was first mooted, and what has happened in the last few years to persuade Uber to enter the local market?
We reverse all the way back to 2015 to find the first suggestion of the firm starting up in Aberdeen…
When did word first emerge of any Aberdeen Uber plans?
Uber dates back to 2009, when American entrepreneurs identified a gap in the market after a particularly pricey taxi ride on New Year’s Eve.
Ordering a cab via an app, paid for in advance, revolutionised the game.
The start-up quickly gained popularity, and was operating in dozens of cities within four years.
It was in October 2015 that the Evening Express revealed the US firm (partly owned by Google at the time) was considering a north-east operation.
At that time, Adele had just released Hello, Donald Trump was merely eyeing up a first stab at the White House and UK Prime Minister David Cameron was preparing for the Brexit vote.
In some respects, it feels very long ago.
But, when it comes to certain issues in Aberdeen, the more things change the more they stay the same…
Russell McLeod, the managing director of Aberdeen’s Rainbow City Taxis, led the recent crusade against Uber.
And it was Mr McLeod who warned of an impact to local businesses nine years prior too, though he said Uber would be welcome as long as it abided by the same rules.
At that time, a spokeswoman for Uber told us that it was the firm’s ambition “to be everywhere”…
But Aberdeen still remained some distance off.
A letter to the Evening Express in October 2015, from an Aberdeen cabbie, warned that the oil decline could impact the “high number” of drivers plying their trade:
Uber granted licence in 2017
Everything went quiet for a while after that initial flurry of interest.
It was two years later, in September 2017, that Uber applied for a licence to operate in Aberdeen.
How was it received?
Graeme McColl, then chairman of Aberdeen Taxi group, said: “The trade doesn’t want them in Aberdeen and are against them coming in.”
But a few days into the following year, the licence was granted.
On January 4, 2018, we reported a few concerns from local drivers left “gobsmacked” by the decision.
Then what happened?
Well, Uber declared that it was looking to launch in the city “as soon as possible”.
Anyone who downloaded the app in anticipation of booking a journey might have been left puzzled by the months on inaction that followed.
It’s maybe no coincidence that the delay happened amid changing fortunes for the city as a whole.
The taxi trade, its success so strongly linked to the oil and gas industry, was similarly on the ropes by this time – with the downturn in full effect.
Did downturn dampen enthusiasm?
In a wait for a taxi to arrive more extreme than even those endured on the busiest night out, Aberdonians found themselves wondering where their Ubers were.
Taxi bosses suggested the change in climate had given the company cold feet, in an article published in January 2019.
By that summer, Uber performed a perhaps unsurprising U-turn and returned the licence.
And maybe they were right to hit the brakes. A P&J article in October 2019 documented the trade’s struggles since the oil price crashed.
Drivers told us about how the industry had been hit with a “perfect storm”.
So what changed?
While an economic crisis put Uber off entering Aberdeen, a global pandemic set off a domino effect that would revive their interest.
Scores of drivers left the industry during those bleak months of shuttered hospitality venues and barren city streets.
Many older cabbies would never return after chucking it in around March 2020.
And so it was, when life did get back to normal, Aberdeen’s taxi industry didn’t.
Soon, queues of revellers glad to be back out and about would complain that their evenings out were ruined by a struggle to get home from the city centre.
And our archives show that Uber started getting brought up more and more as a potential solution…
When our reporter Cameron Roy buckled up against the chill and braved the taxi queues in December 2022, it was becoming an increasingly common refrain.
One shivering Shetland firefighter, following an Aberdeen night out, bemoaned that he would never have to wait longer than 10 minutes for an Uber in Edinburgh.
And the cries of those stranded souls soon reached business bosses.
When the Our Union Street campaign group formed in March 2023, the taxi crisis had become such an issue it was one of the top items on their agenda.
Months into their crusade, they concluded that the predicament was “having a negative impact on the local economy”.
By this time, many would-be revellers claimed the shortages were so dire that they were choosing not to go out.
Our Union Street said they wanted to “understand” whether an Uber service in Aberdeen would “solve the problem”.
Uber plans for Aberdeen step up a gear as 2024 dawns
A breakthrough came in January 2024 when it emerged that city centre improvement group Aberdeen Inspired had met Uber chiefs about a fresh bid at the Granite City.
Uber duly confirmed it was considering the move, persuaded that there was a ready and willing customer base fed up with the city’s taxi troubles.
Taxi drivers reacted with more fury than before, claiming it was “immoral” for city leaders to discuss the trade without their involvement.
Bristling from media coverage of the industry’s tribulations, this time they issued vitriolic calls for the council to deny the incomer a licence.
The move, they argued, would simply worsen the problems local firms are facing.
And things would heat up as the application for a licence was submitted…
Is this the end of the long and winding road?
It emerged that drivers had been threatened with “being blacklisted” if they opted to work for Uber.
Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce completed a survey indicating that 93% of residents wanted Uber here.
The council published the results of a consultation which mirrored that: Taxi firms objected, but hundreds of locals pleaded for the licence to be granted.
Eventually, the saga which began in October 2015 appeared to come to a conclusion at the council’s Town House in June 2024.
Now that it’s all settled, what are your thoughts on Uber’s arrival in Aberdeen? Let us know in our comments section below
For a second time, the licence was granted, much to the cheer of local business bodies. Though not everyone was happy.
The years in between had performed their terrible dance on the taxi trade. And their protests were not enough to offset the swell of support.
A dejected Russell McLeod, diplomatic about Uber’s potential arrival in 2015, could only offer a foul-mouthed outburst when approached about the decision.
Uber has pledged to launch later this summer. Many will be hoping they put their foot down and waste little time in getting to Aberdeen this time…
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