Uber will return to Cancun with twice as many drivers

Company files papers after judges hand it a victory

Taxi drivers protest Uber’s presence in Cancun. File photo

Cancun, Q. Roo — Uber plans to return to Cancun with 2,000 drivers, twice the number of “partners” the ride share company had when it suspended operations at the end of 2017.

Taxi drivers have reacted with fury at Uber’s arrival, and state regulators forced the company to suspend service at the resort city after 15 months.

But in December 2018, two federal judges handed Uber a path back in when they declared Uber private and not regulated like traditional taxis. Uber officials said they hope to resume operations by the end of February.

Uber entered the Cancun market in September 2016, with more than 300,000 people hailing its drivers prior to its suspension. Among those users, 60 percent were national or international tourists.

Uber presented papers Jan. 6 with the Institute of Mobility of Quintana Roo. Company officials told La Jornada Maya that they don’t expect an instant reply.

“We know that this may take a few weeks, but obviously it is not something that is in our hands. If it were up to us, both for the benefit of the residents of Quintana Roo and the hundreds of partners who stayed behind, we would return immediately, but we know that legal things go slowly,” said Federico Ranero Pinto, general director of the digital platform in Mexico.

Around 80 percent of Uber’s passengers in Cancun have been tourists.

Uber also benefits drivers seeking self-employment and helps connect customers to businesses, said Saúl Crespo Laborem, Uber’s communications manager.

Sources: TravelPulse, La Jornada Maya

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