Sharing economy

Transport for London has announced it will not renew ride-sharing app Uber’s license because it has identified a “lack of corporate responsibility” in the company. But did the company deserve to have its licence revoked?

Uber has always maintained its drivers are not directly employed by the company; rather, they are self-employed contractors who are connected to drivers through a platform. But Labour MP Frank Field said, “They are not paying sick leave or contributing to pensions. Yet it seems likely that their employment practices will lead more people to need taxpayers to pick up these costs.”

Wider concerns about the so called ‘gig economy’ have also been cited. Almost 5 million people currently work in these short-term, temporary jobs in the UK.

The so-called sharing economy has spread to a variety of fields such as cars and homes, and Japan has seen another rising trend in recent years—bicycles.

A growing number of municipalities and private firms are providing bikes to gauge whether such services will catch on.

According to NTT Docomo Inc., which has been teaming up with municipalities to offer a bike-sharing service on an experimental basis, its bicycles were used about 1.8 million times in fiscal 2016, which ended March 31, up from 20,000 in fiscal 2012.

Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile phone carrier, is partnering with Koto, Chiyoda, Minato, Chuo, Shinjuku, Bunkyo and Ota wards in Tokyo. Around 4,200 two-wheelers were available at 281 “stations” as of March. Docomo also offers bike-sharing in the cities of Yokohama, Sendai, Hiroshima and Naha, Okinawa Prefecture.