AZE.US
Taxi drivers and passengers in Baku are increasingly getting into disputes because mobile apps do not always show accurate or legally permitted pickup points.
The problem usually starts when a passenger orders a taxi through an app, but the driver cannot stop at the selected location. In some cases, the app sends the driver to the opposite side of the road. In others, there is no legal stopping area nearby.
As a result, passengers accuse drivers of arriving at the wrong place, while drivers say they cannot stop where the app tells them to.
Taxi drivers say such incidents happen regularly.
“A customer sets the pickup point, but there is either no place for a taxi to stop there, or the customer cannot get to that spot. Sometimes the passenger is on the other side of the road, and to pick them up I have to drive another one or two kilometers. The app does not always work correctly, and this causes problems between us and customers,” one driver said.
Passengers also complain that taxi apps do not clearly show where they can be picked up and where drivers are not allowed to stop.
“I ordered a taxi and marked my location, but the car stopped on the other side of the road. I told the driver I was on this side, but he said he could not come closer. It would be better if the app showed the correct pickup point in advance,” one passenger said.
Transport expert Ershad Huseynov said one of the main reasons behind the problem is the shortage of designated stopping and parking areas for taxis.
According to him, the situation is made worse by the fact that passengers often do not know where pickup is allowed.
Huseynov said taxi apps should show passengers approved pickup points before they confirm the order.
“If stopping is prohibited at the location chosen by the passenger, the app should warn them that the driver cannot stop there and suggest another point, for example 200 meters away. Then the passenger will understand that the taxi cannot pick them up exactly at that spot,” he said.
The same information, he added, should also be sent to drivers so that both sides see the same instructions.
According to the expert, similar systems are already used in some large cities in the United States. However, for such a system to work properly in Azerbaijan, the country’s road infrastructure must be more fully digitized.
“All signs, stopping restrictions, road markings and traffic limitations must be digitized so that the app can read them. Right now, even if we want to introduce such a system, there will be many gaps. A driver may stop in a prohibited area, but the app will not warn him because the system itself does not have that information,” Huseynov said.
Experts note that the problem is not unique to Azerbaijan. In many countries where taxi apps are widely used, drivers often see more details about routes and restrictions than passengers do.
Specialists say that in busy parts of Baku, pickup and drop-off points should be clearly marked inside taxi apps. Otherwise, disputes between drivers and passengers are likely to continue.
AZE.US