Taxis - Black Cabs, Uber, Illegal Cabbies

LBC claiming that Uber will not receive new London operating licence

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-uber-britain-idUKKBN1XZ0V3

Comfirmed now with Standard and BBC links below that the licence will not be extended beyond midnight tonight. Another appeal can be raised and I imagine it will be. They have 21 days to do so and can continue to operate in that time

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/tfl-strips-uber-of-licence-to-operate-in-london-a4295491.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50544283

This is excellent news. Guardian article:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/nov/25/uber-loses-licence-london-tfl

At the very least, I expect them to finally have to spend some money on running a service that is not so utterly shoddy--and for other public authorities, in the UK and elsewhere, to feel empowered to take them on--, but if they disappeared from London altogether, that would without any doubt be a good thing. The drivers, for whose services there clearly is demand, would find other work driving.

The drivers, for whose services there clearly is demand, would find other work driving.

I'm not convinced by this. A couple of the main points of Uber is convenience and price. Personally I rarely use it in London but I use it in other countries as it is just so much easier to use an app you already have than try and find a local service with the difficulties of language, payment, etc

I know a lot of people who do use it in London though because it's cheap. For instance they wouldn't use black cabs for the same journey as the cost differential compared to alternatives such as public transport is too high.

I am convinced by it. The advantage that Uber had a few years ago because of its novel 'app' can now easily be caught up on by competitors. If all of its drivers are 'released', there will be someone else waiting for them.

I mean, I would personally prefer it if this kind of taxi service ended in London altogether, but it won't, and I'd prefer pretty much any smaller competitor over Uber, one of the worst companies around.

Uber has a company has a finite lifespan anyway, they're never going to make a profit so it's only a matter of time until it is sold off in parts.

Well, the idea behind all that venture capital poured into it was that they'd eventually get rid of all the drivers and run a service using only 'self-driving' cars. The discussion about those has died down a bit now, but it will undoubtedly erupt again.

I don't think there is an app out there that does the same. There are local ones, Kapten for instance, but nothing that works across so many territories and is as likely to be installed on so many visitors phones.

You're also assuming that the demand for taxis/minicabs is price inelastic which clearly isn't the case. (Although potentially the drivers may be working fewer but better paid hours but I suspect that would be unlikely.)

Apps aren't difficult to programme. Investors will get behind a new, promising one if Uber goes tits up. Visitors will install them on their phones if they go to London, as which app to install will become widely known.

Where do I assume people don't look at price? Of course they do. However, I believe demand for minicab use will continue to go up for a number other reasons, not the least being that 'getting an Uber' is now a cultural institution and will continue even if Uber doesn't operate in London any more. Other factors are a steadily growing need to travel, a steadily growing perceived need to travel, various kinds of greenwash like electric cars or alternative fuels, etc.

(I think they will get a new licence and make the adjustments required, as London is one of their most important markets, but it would be good if they didn't continue here.)

The inevitable appeal by Uber:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/uber-appeal-tfl-refuse-renew-london-operating-licence-a4313376.html

I suppose we'll probably see the GLA dissolved soon to sort this out ...

Cabbies reckon it's the cyclist's fault:

https://twitter.com/SuptAndyCox/status/1206544268309016576

LOLz

Well, evidently not.

One of them's arguing that undertaking is illegal. That's a professional driver who for perhaps two decades has thought that every cyclist who filtered nearside past his cab was breaking the law.

One that spends a large amount of his driving time undertaking others by using bus lanes?

One thought the blue circular shared use sign for cycle pavements meant cyclists had to use them.

That's actually the case in other countries, e.g. Germany (although there they should for the most part be removed, which is something authorities are failing to do).

Anyway, this video clearly shows whose fault it is.

Yes they have helicopters now

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I once met a helicopter pilot from Sao Paulo. Said he it was extremely easy to get work because the traffic was so shocking, the well heeled took helicopters for their morning commutes.

Not the first complaint so it seems the cabbie lost his licence:

https://twitter.com/RickyCarterna/status/1214852011251916802

I recently watched a black cab cruise through a very red traffic light on Oxford Street and get immediately stopped by the cops that were literally the car behind him. Pretty satisfying.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jan/16/trial-of-union-leader-for-assault-by-megaphone-collapses

The court heard that the prosecution was brought after Farrar made a
formal complaint about the policing of the protest. The alleged
assault occurred when police tried to clear protesters away from
flatbed trucks the Met had brought in to help remove parked cars.

Farrar had wanted his members to be able to drive on to the square and
complained to police that they were being treated differently to
black-cab drivers, who were also protesting that day.

He said it was because “the demonstrators came from black and minority
ethnic backgrounds”, Terence Woods, prosecuting, told the jury.
“Black-cab drivers are predominately white British.”

Black cabbie Spencer Kurash is dead:

https://twitter.com/CyclistHannah/status/1246513556494966784

Doesn’t seem like he was a saint but the attitude in that thread is a bit harsh no?

I don't get it.