Rising gas prices and market instability have created a bumpy ride for ride-hailing services. TappCar, which five years ago became the first company to offer ride-hailing services in Winnipeg, has headed for the exit ramp.
The company’s local branch shuttered Sunday, CEO Noel Bernier confirmed to the Free Press.
“Between the pandemic effects, the unknown type of recovery we’re going to have from the pandemic, and then, of course, the energy prices… all of it just made it untenable to market or manage a… discount ride-share,” Bernier said.
The Edmonton-based platform launched in Winnipeg in 2018. Bernier was among a local group to acquire TappCar’s Winnipeg branch late last year.
“TappCar had been severely damaged by the pandemic to begin with,” Bernier said, adding the company’s revenue plummeted roughly 95 per cent during the COVID-19 era.
“Between the pandemic effects, the unknown type of recovery we’re going to have from the pandemic, and then, of course, the energy prices… all of it just made it untenable to market or manage a… discount ride-share,” CEO Noel Bernier said. ” width=”2048″ height=”1365″ srcset=”https://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/400*400/NEP4792400.jpg 400w,https://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/600*600 /NEP4792400.jpg 600w,https://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/700*700/NEP4792400.jpg 700w,https://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/800*800/NEP4792400.jpg 800w,https: //media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/900*900/NEP4792400.jpg 900w,https://media.winnipegfreepress.com/images/1000*1000/NEP4792400.jpg 1000w”/>
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“Between the pandemic effects, the unknown type of recovery we’re going to have from the pandemic, and then, of course, the energy prices… all of it just made it untenable to market or manage a… discount ride-share,” CEO Noel Bernier said.
He and his business partners tried to revitalize the company, he said.
“Omicron in December really set things back,” Bernier said.
The company launched Bunnii, an “affordable luxury” delivery service, in January. The start-up carried products from De Luca Fine Wines and Calabria Market, among others. It was to operate in tandem with TappCar and keep drivers occupied.
Bunnii is closing too.
“As we were emerging from Omicron and thinking ‘OK, we’re getting past Omicron,’ the challenges of the energy crisis were like a final blow,” Bernier said.
“TappCar had been severely damaged by the pandemic to begin with.” – Noel Bernier
TappCar was largely made up of part-time drivers spending their own money on gas. In Winnipeg, 350 drivers were employed by the company at its pre-pandemic peak, Bernier said.
In early March, that number was 45 — nearly half of February’s 75 to 85 drivers. Sourabh Shubham, TappCar’s chief operating officer, attributed the decrease to soaring gas prices.
Some customers’ requests would time out because there weren’t enough drivers to accommodate demand.
“If you have a customer, and they’re trying to book a TappCar about two or three times, and (they) get timed out every time, then (they) go to a different company,” Shubham told the Free Press in March .
TappCar had less than 25 part-time drivers this June.
“TappCar can’t recruit drivers anymore — it’s too expensive,” Bernier said.
Gabrielle Piche
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Gabby is a big fan of people, writing and learning. She graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in the spring of 2020.
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