Uber nuisance
SANDTON – Residents are complaining about drivers of popular ride-sharing company, Uber, parking on their pavements.
A Sandton resident has been up in arms after Uber drivers formed an informal taxi rank for their vehicles in front of her home while waiting for passengers.
According to the resident, this is a daily occurrence and happens at any time. “Sometimes there are four or five cars and they park on the pavement in front of my house.” She stated that she has complained to the popular ride-share company and also sent them the registration numbers of the vehicles in the hope that they could communicate with their drivers.
“They wait along Bryanston Drive between William Nicol and Grosvenor roads in Bryanston and there was another incident where one driver was washing his car on the pavement,” the resident said.
“These pavement areas are maintained by the residents.”
Samantha Allenberg from Uber said, “Driver/partners are independent transport service providers and, as such, Uber does not exercise control over their operations, such as where they park to wait for trip requests from their riders.”
She said that Uber driver/partners are expected to maintain high standards of professionalism, which includes compliance with all relevant laws and rules of the road.
“We have made sure to remind drivers of this. If driver/partners are in violation of these laws and rules, people can contact the local authorities to intervene.”
Edna Mamonyane, Metro police spokesperson said, “Uber drivers fall under public transport and are not allowed to form a taxi rank wherever they want to. They are supposed to request permission from the transportation board and get a demarcated parking space for them to use.”
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Mamonyane, however, stressed that residents do not own the space in front of their homes as it is a public space. “We appreciate that they maintain the area, but it is not their property and it is not illegal to park there.
“However, because Uber drivers exchange transport for a fare they need to have their own demarcated parking space,” concluded Mamonyane.
Ward 106 councillor Chris Santana said that councillors across the city are receiving lots of complaints. “They must wait in parking spaces and pay for their own parking or they must park on the side of the street where on-street parking is permitted.”
Santana continued that if they are parking all over the place and littering, JMPD must deal with them. “Residents should report these issues to their councillors. Residents in Sunninghill and Fourways have had some assistance from Uber management and are in contact with Taxify,” concluded Santana.
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