The Juno chauffeur-driven car reservation service (VTC) announced Monday, November 18 that it was immediately ceasing operations in New York, where it was primarily in competition with Uber and Lyft, due to “market evolution».
The Israeli company Gett, which bought Juno in 2017, said in a statement that it wanted to focus on services to professionals rather than individuals. But the decision to close Juno, launched in New York in 2016, is also linked to the adoption by the city of regulations described as “ill-advised»By Gett.
The town hall has indeed limited the number of licenses for VTCs since 2018 and, since this summer, the time that these vehicles can drive in certain areas without passengers. The town hall has also imposed a minimum wage for drivers. These regulations represent serious setbacks for the major players in VTC, who have carried out major campaigns on the subject.
In the wake of New York City, the State of California ratified a law in September forcing them to reclassify VTC drivers as employees. These constraints represent a certain cost for these companies, which are still struggling to demonstrate their profitability. After a chaotic start on the stock market at the start of the year, both Uber and Lyft are still in deficit.
Gett promised that all Juno drivers would be paid for the trips taken. The Israeli company, valued at 1.5 billion dollars after in particular an investment of more than 300 million dollars from Volkswagen, has also concluded an agreement with Lyft so that its 15,000 professional customers can use the services of the Californian company in the States -United.
«Our strategic partnership with Lyft is a win-win: Gett is expanding its business in North America as we continue to see strong momentum in Europe, while Lyft benefits from the large number of Gett corporate customers traveling to the United States. UnitedCommented Gett CEO Dave Waiser.
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