Taxis - Black Cabs, Uber, Illegal Cabbies

Still, would use an Uber over a black cab, but when push comes to shove Add Lee have always got my back (double flats, no spare tubes, bike in the back seat, 10/10 banter all the way home) but that's just from my personal experience.

Completely agree with this ^

Are uber actually breaking the law though? Are they not operating within a loophole?
Surely it's TFL's problem that the contracts that they drew up are in breach, not ubers?

I thought the dispute wasn't about using the app to hail but that it's used as a meter and uber don't pay to license unlike black cabs?

Where as Uber it seems can ignore all of this and do what they want.

Uber are not ignoring anything as this didn't apply to them in the first place because they aren't 'black cabs'.
The black cab drivers seem to be asking for more freedom but also more protection.

Their beef with uber is about anything and everything as far as I can see.

Its not the cabbies who developed the car they HAVE to use, I'm sure all of them would rather not pay 5ok for a inefficient and expensive to run car. They would all rather drive an 8k Mondeo and decrease fares therefore developing their available market of customers.

Yep, but Uber is the other end of the scale. Uber may be cheaper but it's the Uber drivers that are getting squeezed more and more, and it's Uber (the company) that is raking in the cash.

Somewhere there's a happy medium where the controlling company isn't in it to screw the drivers and make as much profit as possible.

Hailo was useful, but isn't Uber as it's still a black cab (rather than something more comfortable) and doesn't just handle the billing for you (which is one of the major advantages of Uber).

I can't talk as I think I've taken a cab precisely twice in more than twenty years of living in London (once when friends I was out with hailed one to go about 500 metres down the road (groan) and I didn't have my bike with me, and once from the station to home when I had a silly amount of luggage--black cabs both times), but I'd usually prefer the local provider to an exploitative international corporation whose aim is, simply, to erect international monopolies or oligopolies, undercutting older business models in which much more money stays in the local economy. Similar things are happening in other industries, of course. It may not be personally so convenient to use an older and seemingly outdated business, but, in the long run and indirectly, dealing locally always works out to your advantage.

TFL are trying to level the playing field by making Uber introduce a mandatory 5 minute minimum delay between you asking for a car (via the app) and being able to get in it.

The idea is that this may make a percentage of people just use a black cab instead, since they can see them going past.

Uber have a petition somewhere to argue against it.

I don't think that's a bad compromise but then I take cabs/Uber so infrequently that a 5 minute delay isn't a problem for me. I'm usually leaving a pub or a friend's house to go home and I'm not worried about an extra 5 minutes.

https://action.uber.org/tfl/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11900871/Thousands-sign-Uber-petition-against-London-plans-to-ban-key-features.html

"
TfL is consulting on 25 proposals for private hire companies - several of which could seriously affect Uber:

1. Operators "must provide booking confirmation details to the passenger at least five minutes prior to the journey"
   Uber matches passengers with the nearest riders, meaning they are picked up in, on average, three minutes.
   
2. Companies "must not show vehicles being available for immediate hire either visibly or virtually via an app"
   One of Uber's key features is a map of available drivers in the area around the passenger.
   
3. Operators "must offer a facility to pre-book up to seven days in advance"
   This option that would create major headaches for Uber, since it does not allow passengers to pre-book rides.
   
4. Drivers may only work for one operator at a time
   Uber says many of its drivers are part-time workers whose main employer is a traditional minicab firm.
   
5. There should be "controls on ridesharing in public vehicles"
   Uber's chief executive Travis Kalanick has said he wants to bring the UberPool service to London, which allows several customers to share a car.
   "
   

Some times I think the cabbies may be on to something about Uber being shit, but then I get sworn at and abused by one of them for cycling in a bus lane and suddenly my empathy disappears.

I'm sure it was reported a while ago that the virtual map of available cars is a "visualisation" and doesn't actually represent the available cars.

Personally on the rare occasions when I use cabs I'd use Uber.

The knowledge is all well and good in Zone 1 or 2 but I still have to end up directing black cabs to my flat outside of that. Far easier giving my postcode and letting them get on with it.

Easy payment, far too many black cabs have no card machine or one that's out of order. It's no use a fraction of them having card machines as you never know if the taxi you're getting will take card or not.

Finally, there just seems to be a difference in attitude. Black cabs often give the impression that you should be grateful they've agreed to take you somewhere whereas Uber/AddLee or whoever are the opposite.

Some times I think the cabbies may be on to something about Uber being shit, but then I get sworn at and abused by one of them for cycling in a bus lane and suddenly my empathy disappears.

Some times I think cyclists may be on to something about infrastructure being shit, but then I watch them sailing through red lights and pedestrian crossings and suddenly my empathy disappears.

This

I used Uber over 100 times while my crocked knee and foot was not ok to walk or ride on. Luckily my client covered the cost.

My experience was that a lot of the uber drivers were either studying and using uber as a useful part time income or were business owners or part time workers who wanted to top up their income.

Most that I spoke to liked uber because there is no cash to handle, tax is deducted at source thus avoiding tax returns (I wonder how many black cab driver's tax returns are 100% legit?) and their only requirements were a phone, to pass an interview to ascertain your language skills and to have a suitably insured car with appropriate minicab license.

Beats the hell out of spending two to three years doing the knowledge and then spending £40k on a hackney carriage.

I forgot to mention my main point.

The reason I used Uber is because black cabs don't pass my house or my offices as often as necessary. Whenever I use Uber it normally takes 5 to 15 minutes to arrive. How is that different to me ringing a local taxi firm (and inevitably being told there are no cars available) or booking online with addison lee?

I don't use uber because they only have an app and fuck that. I'll use Addi Lee for longer journeys and black cabs from stations if I'm battered or carrying shit and it's pissing down. Also private cabs to/from airports because they're cheaper still than Addi Lee. I have no point to make. I'd like to see less of all 4-wheel vehicles on the roads. There's a point.

were those black cabs to emit something other than black smog...

What happens when someone launches an App that the driver pays a few quid for to be a taxi at the weekend ? If Uber are prepared to go this far, whats to stop someone with less scruples going even further. Hoards of unlicensed jamming up the roads, fighting over customers ?

Personally I see too many empty mini cabs about already, a very inefficient form of public transport. I get the usefulness for disabled people, but it still another empty/ one person car on the roads.

I hope not, so I do think you have to draw the line somewhere

Well you still need a minicab licence, increased insurance, etc so there's a point whn it wouldn't be economic.

I just don't understand the monopoly of the Black Taxi's. How can we not have fair market regulation? I usually get an Uber as there's never a Black Taxi around whenever I need one. And it would be £40+ to get home to East Dulwich.

Keeping my personal loathing for cabs of all types at bay, the Uber model works best for customer and driver. Yes I like the look of black cabs, they're more local and 'the knowledge' is cool, but those things don't matter in the word we live in.

But cars are shit anyway, ban them.

Uber's won the high court judgement saying that the app isn't a taxi meter http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/16/uber-wins-high-court-case-taxi-app-tfl

I suspect that could make it a bit more difficult for TFL to bring in more restrictive rules.

The Knowledge will become a lot more valuable in 20 years or so if nothing is done to prevent Kessler Syndrome.

Huh?

Nah we would just send up some crazy expensive clean up crew to go and sweep up.

Bits of debris flying around in low earth orbit (where all the satellites are) smash into a satellite causing it to break apart, this leaves even more bits of debris flying around making further collisions more likely. Eventually (20-30 years they estimate unless something is done) it happens enough that all satellites in low earth orbit are obliterated and anything new put up there would be destroyed within days.

Even getting a new satellite (or any other space rocket) through the debris cloud at low earth orbit height would be risky, so space exploration gets put on hold for 50-60 years until it all smashes itself apart and the bits burn up or fly off into space never to come back.

But, most importantly...

No satellites means no GPS.

No GPS means no Satnav.

So suddenly knowing your way around London becomes a very valuable asset.