Uber made its real debut in Norway by starting operations in Oslo in 2020, but has yet to to establish itself in any other city – until now. From June 2022, Uber will begin to operate in Trondheim as well, and has plans to further expand into more Norwegian cities in the future.
The Uber app is already working for booking rides in Trondheim, so you can begin to book drives right now. Just download the Uber app, choose Trondheim as your city, and book a Uber ride to come and get you.
Why did Uber chose Trondheim?
Many people were surprised to hear that Uber chose Trondheim as their next city after Oslo, and people just assumed that cities like Bergen or Stavanger would be next in line. So what’s the reason behind chosing Trondheim?
Trondheim is one of cities with most tech-students in Norway, and the company thinks that younger people are more inclined to use Uber instead of regular taxis.
Many people consider Trondheim to be the best tech-city of Norway due to the amount of tech science and data science students at NTNU.
There has also been some issues with the public buses in Trondheim lately, which has lead to a lot of frustration for people who uses the public transport. This is something Uber could take advantage of when setting up!
It will be interesting to see if Uber manages to get the public to start using the app in Trondheim, just did they did in Oslo. The company has had over 100,000 Oslo citizens using the app so far, so it’s been a big success there.
Uber has been having a hard time in Norway
Uber first attempted to launch in Norway back in 2014, but found it very difficult to operate due to strict laws about who can get paid for driving passengers. They tried to operate in Oslo, but gave up after a few years.
However, Norway loosened its taxi laws in 2020, making it easier for companies and independent drivers to offer transportation services. They still need permits, but these are far cheaper and easier to get a hold of. This allowed Uber to return to Oslo, and they made a decent profit there even during the pandemic.
Uber has always said that they would consider expanding to new cities in Norway, but were waiting for the right city and the right time. It seems like Trondheim in the summer of 2022 was just that!
The future is not really that safe for Uber
While the Uber story in Norway seems like a sucsess story so far, it’s a bit too early to tell. The new government lead by Jonas Gahr Støre with Arbeiderpartiet (Labor Party) and Senterpartiet (Center Party) has made it clear that they want to make the taxi permits more difficult to get hold of again.
Potentially they are looking to revert it back to how it was pre-2020, so that could lead to some trouble for Uber. But we just have to wait and see how that all plays out.
Is it better to call an Uber in Trondheim compared to a taxi?
Taxis are notoriously expensive in Norway, so many people are very happy to hear that Uber is setting up shop in more cities. Not only is Uber cheaper, but many people enjoy the total control you get when using the app. In contrast to riding a taxi, you get to see how much money the trip costs you right in the app, and are free to leave feedback for the drivers based on how they act.
It’s still important to remember that Uber is far from cheap in Norway. They have to pay taxes and fees, and are subject to the same high fuel prices as everyone else. So it’s not like Uber will be super cheap compared to taxis, but rather expect it to be around 25 % cheaper.
If Uber becomes an established player in Norway, I could easily see that especially younger people opt for Uber instead of a regular taxi. There are definitely some benefits to using an Uber over a regular taxi, but I suppose there are some potential downsides to it as well.
Which will be the next city for Uber to start in?
Since most of us were surprised that Uber chose Trondheim as their second city to begin operations in, no one can really know for sure what their third city is going to be. Maybe they will surprise us yet again?
That said, most people are pretty sure that Uber will begin to operate in Bergen, Tromsø and Stavanger at one point. These three cities just make a lot of sense when looking at the city layouts and types of in-city driving that is done in these places.