Uber宣布在法国暂停运营

Uber Suspends UberPop in France and Awaits Court Ruling
Uber宣布在法国暂停运营

PARIS ― Uber, the American ride-hailing company, agreed to suspend its lowest-cost service in France starting Friday evening, bowing to strikes last week in which taxi drivers blocked roads, burned tires and in some cases attacked drivers who they thought were working for Uber.

巴黎――美国叫车公司Uber同意从上周五晚间起，暂停它在法国的低价叫车服务，这是对上周法国出租车司机罢工的妥协。罢工的司机截断道路，焚烧轮胎，有些甚至还攻击了那些他们认为是为Uber工作的司机。

In a statement issued Friday, the company said that the service, UberPop, would be suspended at 8 p.m. and would remain inactive until the resolution of a case pending before the French Constitutional Court.

Uber在周五发布的声明中表示，UberPop服务将于当晚8时暂停，并且会保持暂停状态，直至交由法国宪法法院审理的案件结案。

The service, which allows drivers who do not have a professional chauffeur’s license to pick up passengers who use an Uber smartphone application, has been assailed by the country’s taxi associations as unfair competition.

Uber允许没有出租车运营执照的司机搭载使用Uber智能手机应用的乘客，它被法国出租车行业协会抨击为不公平竞争。

“In the light of last week’s violence, we have today decided to suspend UberPop, our ride-sharing service,” until September’s court decision, said Gareth Mead, an Uber spokesman for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“鉴于上周的暴力行为，今天我们决定暂停拼车服务UberPop,”一直到9月的法庭判决公布为止，Uber负责欧洲、中东和非洲的发言人加雷思‧米德(Gareth Mead)说。

Uber’s other services, which rely on drivers with professional licenses, will continue to operate, he said.

Uber其它一些依托于有专业执照的司机的业务会继续运营，他说。

The government has said UberPop is illegal, but the company, based in San Francisco, has challenged the law that the government says prohibits the service; the court is expected to rule in the next three months. In a separate case, two Uber executives are expected to stand trial in September over the company’s practices in France.

法国政府已经表示UberPop是非法的，但是这家总部位于旧金山(San Francisco)的公司对政府援引的法律提出质疑；法国宪法法院将在三个月内做出裁决。在另外一起独立的案件中，两名Uber高管将于9月因公司业务而在法国受审。

In a distinct change to its usually combative style, Uber adopted a conciliatory tone in its latest statement, likely in recognition of the government’s support for the taxi drivers.

同以往的好斗姿态大相径庭的是，Uber在最新的声明中采取了安抚性的口吻，这可能是因为它看到了政府对出租车司机的支持。

“We believe there is a way forward that provides new opportunities for all drivers, including taxi drivers, as well as passengers who love the convenience of services like Uber, Heetch and Djump,” Mr. Mead said, referring to some of the French ride-sharing services that are similar to UberPop.

“我们相信会有一条出路，能够给包括出租车司机在内的所有司机提供新的机会，也能为热爱Uber、Heetch和Djump的便利服务的乘客提供新的机会，”米德说。他在话中提及了法国一些类似UberPop的拼车服务。

The accessibility and low prices of all of Uber’s services, but especially of UberPop, have buffeted the heavily protected taxi industry here, precipitating outrage that last week tipped into violence. Taxi drivers nationwide went on strike, and a number of them took to the streets, blocking major urban access routes, causing traffic jams and at times burning tires and occasionally assaulting Uber drivers and their customers.

Uber所有的服务都相当便捷、价格低廉，尤其是UberPop，因此极大地冲击了受严密保护的法国出租车行业。这使得许多人怒火中烧，他们在上周开始使用暴力手段。法国各地的出租车司机参与了罢工，他们中的一些人走上街头，堵塞城市道路，使得交通拥堵。他们还焚烧轮胎，甚至袭击Uber的司机和乘客。

While the government called for calm, it made only a limited effort to control the violence and it then acquiesced to the taxi unions’ demand for a crackdown on Uber. On Friday, the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, said that the government’s “firmness” in its dealings with Uber had paid off. However, his comments, made on the sidelines of a meeting in the city of Besançon, suggested that he was also aware that there might be problems with the current regulatory regime in France.

政府尽管呼吁冷静，但仅做了有限的努力控制暴力，并且之后顺从了出租车联盟打压Uber的要求。上周五，法国总理曼努埃尔・瓦尔斯(Manuel Valls)说政府处理Uber的“坚定态度”已见成效。然而，他在贝桑松市的一次会议期间，在台下暗示，他也认识到法国当前的监管体制可能是有问题的。

“We are not against Uber, we are not against the V.T.C.,” he said referring to non-taxi companies that offer rides on demand using drivers who are licensed as professional chauffeurs. “We are elsewhere ready to examine the rules in this domain and consider all necessary changes, but UberPop must be forbidden.”

“我们不反对Uber，也不反对VTC，”他这里指的是非出租车叫车公司。VTC会雇佣有执照的职业司机根据需求提供驾驶服务。“另外我们准备审视这个领域的规定并且将考虑做出必要的改变，但是UberPop必须被禁用。”

Taxi drivers responded warily to Uber’s decision; some sounded as if they viewed it as a trick. Didier Hogrel, the president of the National Taxi Federation, when asked if he was pleased, said, “Not at all.”

出租车司机对Uber的决定谨慎以待；有些人听起来好像认为这是一个花招。迪迪艾・贺格勒(Didier Hogrel)是国家出租车联盟的主席，当被问到是否感到高兴时，他说：“一点儿也不。”

“Uber is a specialist in communication and media hype,” he said. “We have to see if this declaration will be followed by results.”

“Uber是传播和媒体炒作的专家，”他说。“我们必须要看在声明之后是否有结果。”

Jean-Michel Rebours, president of the Parisian Taxi Defense Union, sounded slightly more optimistic.

让-米歇尔・勒布尔(Jean-Michel Rebours)是巴黎出租车保护联盟的主席，他听起来稍微乐观一些。

“Is there a reason for satisfaction? Yes, but with lots of questions,” Mr. Rebours said. “This is just a suspension, and what will it result in?” he asked. “I am nevertheless happy that the heads of UberPop in particular have taken this decision. It allows everyone to calm down a little during this period.”

“有没有满意之处呢？有，但是还有许许多多的疑问，”勒布尔说。“这仅仅是暂停，最终结果将是什么？”他问。“无论如何，我还是很高兴，尤其是Uberpop的负责人做出的这个决定。这会让每个人能在这段时间里冷静一些。”

Taxi drivers in France must acquire an expensive license ― costing as much as $270,000 in Paris ― and have felt betrayed that unlicensed UberPop drivers are allowed to operate freely without having to bear a similar burden.

在法国的出租车司机必须获取昂贵的执照――在巴黎，这一费用最高达27万美元――这些司机觉得遭到了背叛，因为没有执照的UberPop司机也被允许自由运营，而无需承担类似的负担。

Uber has countered that there are too few taxis to satisfy demand in France and that with the country’s high unemployment rate of 10 percent, riders need low-cost alternatives. UberPop has 400,000 customers in France and about 10,000 drivers.

Uber则辩称，法国的出租车太少，无法满足需求，并且全国的失业率高达10%，乘客们需要其他的低成本选项。目前，UberPop在法国有40万顾客和大约1万名司机。