The price of gasoline at its highest. It exceeds 2.5 euros per liter this Thursday, March 10. A huge burden for motorists who can no longer cope. An even greater weight for professionals, especially taxis. They are exactly 437 in Nice and they begin to be very worried.
At Nice airport, in the long taxi queue. Gilles, driving his car, waits desperately, “165 minute wait”. Twelve hours of work a day but very few customers according to him and overwhelming loads. “Before my fill-up it was between 70 and 80 euros and now we are between 90 and 100 euros. At the end of the year we exceeded 9,000 euros”he says.
“We start from scratch without knowing what will happen”
A blow for dTaxis already weakened by two years of Covid-19 crisis and its consequences. “We can’t get out of it anymore, we can’t see the end of the tunnel anymore”believe Fabrice Cavaléra, president of the Nice taxi union. “We were hoping for an imminent end of the tunnel for this season, here we are starting from scratch without knowing what will happen”he says. “I’m afraid it’s really catastrophic”he concludes.
The consequences of the war in Ukraine already visible
Added to this is the war in Ukraine. Its consequences are already visible in Nice, “there are no Russian customers”notes Michael. “We won’t have them this year. We’re still scared”said the young man.
A collection that pushes some to switch to electric vehicles. Others, suffocated by the burdens, think squarely of changing jobs.