Uber Japan signed a comprehensive partnership agreement with Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, for a ride-sharing service by a local government. This is the first agreement with a local government for Uber since the ride-sharing rule was eased in December 2023.
The ride-sharing service is managed by a local DMO in Kaga City, and Uber provides its app for the service. Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo, a taxi operator, manages drivers.
The ride-sharing service by a local government is a rule for a local government or NPO to manage a ride-sharing service in the areas without public transportation enough to meet local residents’ or tourists’ needs, and the deregulation in December last year allows an operator to rise the ride-sharing fare to up to 80% of the taxi fare.
In April 2024, a ride-sharing service by a taxi company will be introduced in major cities as a new rule, which allows a driver contracting with a taxi company to transport passengers with their own cars.
“Kaga City chronically suffers from shortage of taxi drivers, which is a huge disadvantage even for tourism,” Riku Miyamoto, Kaga City Mayor said. “The most important point is that local residents can move freely using taxi, bus and Uber.”
“The deregulation makes a ride-sharing service a sustainable business,” Shiro Yamanaka, Uber Japan Manager said. “We can contribute not only to residents in Kaga City and domestic tourists to the area but also to inbound travelers with the world-used app.” Uber Japan intends to raise awareness of ‘Uber in Kaga City’ in Taiwan especially, where many tourists visit Ishikawa Prefecture.
宮元陸加賀市市長(左)とUber Japan代表の山中志郎氏
The ride-sharing service starts with 14 drivers
The ride-sharing service is available in major tourist areas and resident areas in Kaga City between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm, and in the entire Kaga City between 7:00 pm and 11:00 pm. For tourists, ‘Uber Stop is set up in front of Kaga Onsen Station of Hokuriku Shinkansen, which just opened on March 16 2024.
14 local residents who have passed training courses by Daiichi Koutsu Sangyo initially started the ride-sharing service as drivers, and Kaga City aims to increase registered drivers to 50 for a while.
The ride-sharing fare is 80% of the taxi fare in the region, and 70% of revenue are payed to a driver.
