No more taxis at the taxi rank at the airport, the hotel or at the taxi rank in the city. Every day more and more signals are reaching us that taxi drivers are calling it quits. The fact that the taxi companies already had a hard time before the lockdown does not need further explanation. Still, the sector crawled out of a deep trough, but the lockdown has contributed to the fact that we are now hearing more and more harrowing stories from entrepreneurs. The NOW or TOZO scheme seemed to be the rescue for entrepreneurs, but now they are still failing.
We see the picture especially with companies that get more than 80% of their turnover from street taxis, airport transport and transport for companies within the Randstad. The Temporary Bridging Scheme for Independent Entrepreneurs (Tozo) is one of the cabinet's measures to support entrepreneurs during the corona crisis. The scheme is for self-employed persons, including self-employed persons. It provides for an additional subsistence allowance if income falls below the social minimum due to the corona crisis. When the income has fallen below the social minimum, the suffering is incalculable. There is no longer any leniency from leasing companies and banks were no party in the taxi sector to help from day one. We will see a lot of suffering in this sector in the coming months.
We drove 2500 journeys per month to and from Schiphol. That has now fallen to a few trips a week. It is no longer feasible. First put our own reserves in the business and now used up all cash credits. The moment also, rather healthy, family businesses fail, this is a signal that a domino effect will occur in the taxi sector.
Overdue loans, lease cars that can no longer be paid on time, no payment of pension premiums, overdue wage tax, deferred payment of the rent for the business premises and parking spaces for taxis. These are some of the financial concerns that entrepreneurs now face on a daily basis. Suppliers to taxi companies are doing their utmost to ease the suffering, but see more and more companies preparing to call it quits. Even if the sector could get back to work tomorrow, it is no longer affordable to repair the damage.
Daily questions from frank entrepreneurs of taxi companies whether a deferment of payment can be granted. It might just be a drop in the ocean. Yet a silent hope by cooperating in this that people will soon be allowed to keep customers and the feeling that you did not cooperate in their downfall.
The trade association, which is also having a hard time itself, can no longer do anything in this regard. Despite all well-intentioned negotiations with the government, the reality is now on the screen. An image in which the street taxi will permanently disappear from the street scene in its current form. Not only the taxi sector is affected by the dropout. Companies specialized in transport with a driver are forced to to stop. The only one that may reap the benefits of this is Uber because we can say with some certainty that the disappearance of street taxi in its traditional form is a dream scenario for the 'platform without personnel'after the corona crisis.
The causes are easy to identify. The sector revives when things go well in the hospitality industry, theaters, events, conferences and travel sector. All the sectors mentioned are currently experiencing their own misery, with the direct consequence that all transport movements come to a standstill. The economy has been burdened by the measures of the pandemic for almost a year. Less known to many of us, but in the meantime it causes a lot of misery for many entrepreneurs, their families and staff.
It started at the start of the corona crisis as the first with the Taxi Electric that was forced to file its own bankruptcy. De Reest in Meppel went down, Dutchcabs in Almere and last week driver Martijn Walraven tried to save his company by opposing the declared bankruptcy of Taxi Horn. These are just a few examples. Yet there is even more misery because not everyone goes bankrupt. Entrepreneurs we talk to now think it is a good time to stop and not wait for bankruptcy. Limiting the damage yourself. Some are retiring now and think it was good. Others cancel their membership of the TTO and look for a job in another sector.
Hardly anyone takes a taxi anymore. The corona crisis is hitting one industry considerably harder than another. These measures also affect the Valys transport. It is still possible to order rides, but the transport numbers have fallen to a dramatic low point, which has direct consequences for all affiliated taxi companies that operate Valys transport on a daily basis. Valys is there for travelers with a mobility limitation who want to visit family, a social-recreational trip outside their own region or want to go out for a day.
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