BY BESTENIGAR KARA
The U.S.-based global technology and mobility platform Uber plans to reach more cities in Turkey this year, according to Neyran Bahadirli, CEO of Turkey, Israel, and Malta at Uber. Uber Turkey, Turkey operation of the company, currently operates in eight cities, including Bursa, Mersin, and Kayseri where it entered in March. “We aim to allow more taxi drivers to earn through our application, and more national and international riders to benefit from our technology,” Bahadirli said in an exclusive interview with TR MONITOR.
Uber is a global technology company that allows more than 21 million trips in over 10,000 cities in 70 countries in one day. The company, which first entered Turkey in 2014, was welcomed with great interest by both Istanbulites and tourists in a short time. The platform’s product UberXL, which was operated only by licensed transportation companies, made a splash, especially in Istanbul. However, an unfair competition lawsuit was filed against UberXL, and the court banned access to Uber in Turkey in 2020. “Uber appealed against the decision and took it to the higher court. The ban was lifted in January 2021 and Uber was allowed to operate in Turkey with taxis,” Bahadirli noted. Uber Turkey, which pivoted its strategy with this decision, said “Hello again to all Istanbulites” with the Uber Taxi launch immediately. “As of today, we are operating with Uber Yellow Taxi, Turquoise Taxi, Black Taxi, and Uber Courier in Istanbul. In addition to Istanbul, Uber Taxi is also available in the capital Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, and Adana.”
The mobility business of Uber grew by 31.0% to USD 14.9bn in gross bookings on a global scale in 2022, according to Neyran Bahadirli. “We can say that we registered even a higher growth in both trips and gross booking in Turkey,” she said, reiterating that they aim to increase their operations in Turkey, launch new cities, and bring the benefits of Uber’s technology to more drivers, riders, and municipalities across the country.
Uber’s growth in Turkey can also be understood from the figures shared by Bahadirli. For instance, more than 33,000 taxi drivers used Uber in Turkey, mostly in Istanbul while the rating of the taxi drivers completing trips on the platform averaged 4.93 out of 5.00 alone in 2022. Moreover, the Uber application was used to call taxis 25 million times in 2022, a jump of 270% from a year ago. “As of today, the total number of downloads of the Uber application has reached 6 million in the country,” Bahadirli noted. Furthermore, both Istanbulites and tourists, who visited Istanbul from 159 different countries, traveled in the city using the Uber application last year. “The U.S., Saudi Arabia, and the UK topped the list,” she added. While a rider called an Uber Taxi up to 938 times throughout the year, the top day with the highest number of trips with Uber Taxi was July 23, 2022. “We also launched Uber Black Taxi service in February 2022 to offer a more luxurious and comfortable option with 8+1 capacity minivans. It showed very good results last year and we plan further development and rollout of our Uber Black Taxi service this year.”
‘TURKEY IS A VALUABLE MARKET FOR UBER’
The Turkish market is too valuable for Uber, and the platform sees the country as a long-term business partner, according to Neyran Bahadirli. “We aim to add value to urban mobility and create social impact with our technology in Turkey,” she said. Considering the population of 85 million, cities with over 1 million population, and tourist places like the coastal cities or Istanbul, Turkey is the market with great potential and transportation needs Uber can meet. “Uber Turkey recorded dramatic growth after the ban was lifted. 2022 was particularly the year when we had very good results in terms of the usage of the Uber application by drivers, users, sessions, and trips,” Bahadirli noted. “We are happy that Turkey is one of the fastest growing countries within Uber and we aim to continue this success in 2023.”
That’s why it won’t be wrong to say that all these factors make Uber Turkey one of the future star markets in the Uber ranking. To achieve it, Uber Turkey has already made a good start to 2023. The platform, which entered Adana in February, and Bursa, Mersin, and Kayseri in March, launched the Uber Courier service in Istanbul in January to send and receive packages in the city. “We are excited to bring Uber Courier, which offers service in 371 cities and 37 countries in the world, to Istanbul. We believe that this new service, implemented in cooperation with courier business partners, will make life easier,” Bahadirli said. Within the scope of the service, packages to be sent with Uber Courier are received from the addresses specified in the Uber application and delivered to the necessary destination. In addition to the ‘Send a package’ option in the application, Uber users can also click the ‘Get a package’ option to pick up a package from the address they specify and deliver it to the point of arrival. “The first two months of Uber Courier operations showed very promising results,” Bahadirli added.
Generally, Uber has a simple mission: to make affordable transportation available everywhere for everyone at the touch of a button. Since its foundation, the company has worked to improve mobility in cities across the world and has continued to invest heavily in technology that can help get more people into fewer cars. “Our goal is to make it so easy for people to click a button and get a ride that car ownership becomes the exception, not the rule. By replacing individual car ownership with shared modes of transportation, we can reduce congestion and pollution in our cities, making access to transportation more affordable and reliable for everyone. In this way, we became a long-term partner for the countries where we operate, working to build smarter and cleaner cities together.”
Neyran Bahadirli not only leads Uber’s Turkey operations but also pioneers its Malta and Israel operations. To her, Malta is a different market compared to Turkey. “Regulations allow a full PHV (Private Hire Vehicle) market in addition to taxis in Malta. Thus, we can offer different services such as UberX, Uber XL, and Uber Green. A more open market implies a more competitive market,” she said, stressing that there are several companies and applications like Uber that operate in Malta. Regarding Israel, the country is more like Turkey in terms of regulations and opportunities for companies to operate. “Our will is to grow in all our markets.”
DIFFERENT MOBILITY OPTIONS NEEDED
Touching on the general state of Uber’s business line in Turkey, Bahadirli said Turkey needs different mobility options which can unlock great market potential. “Considering Turkey’s huge population, 6th ranking country that attracts the highest number of tourists in the world and the Istanbul Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Europe, I can say that we should foster all opportunities that can be unlocked as a country,” she added.
From this perspective, Bahadirli gave sustainable mobility as an example. “Uber can be a great partner as we have a strong commitment towards sustainability at a worldwide level,” she said, stressing that their goal is to become a zero-emission platform by 2040. “It can be achieved by 2030 if we only consider the U.S., Canada, and European cities,” she noted. In other words, all transportation via the Uber application is planned to be carried out with zero-emission vehicles. “The Uber Green product, which can only be called an electric or hybrid vehicle, is a good example.”
Moreover, Uber aims to transform all vehicles in London, one of the largest markets of the company, and at least 50% of those in Paris into electric or hybrid vehicles by 2025. It also integrates four-wheel transportation services with more sustainable ones such as micro-mobility, including e-scooters and e-bikes operated by third parties, and public transport. “In public transportation, the Uber platform features ‘Uber Transit’ in some cities, allowing users to plan for public transportation services such as the subway and buses. These are good examples to show how we can work with municipalities to modernize their urban transportation system towards more sustainable solutions.”
ALL RIDES ARE INSURED
Uber Turkey has kicked off the ‘Partner Protect on Program’ with the insurance company Allianz Partners as of January 2022 to support tax drivers, and therefore ensure that all Uber Taxi rides are insured on the Uber platform. The company also developed a ‘Loyalty Program’ for its partner drivers to provide fuel support from the petroleum company Shell. It also launched the ‘Uber Pro Program’ to offer rewards and privileges to its taxi driver partners.
FIRST MOBILITY APPLICATION EASED THE LIFE OF THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED
Uber also focuses on social projects supporting the local communities by using its technology, according to Neyran Bahadirli, CEO of Turkey, Israel, and Malta at Uber. Within this frame, Uber became the first mobility application in Turkey to make life easier for the visually impaired in cooperation with the Blindlook in December 2022. Uber Turkey also collected book donations free of charge in Istanbul within the scope of the collaboration with Herkese Kitap Vakfi. “The foundation delivered these books to village schools in Anatolia,” Bahadirli said. As part of the cooperation with Besiktas and Kadikoy Municipalities, it collected electronic waste free of charge for recycling. Moreover, it continued to engage with users of its application on special occasions. “Uber Chocolate, a special gift for Valentine’s Day on February 14, and Uber Book, a set of children’s world classic books as a special gift for children on the National Sovereignty and Children’s Day on April 23, were distributed with Uber Taxis.”