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Uber

Forums New posts
OldBlueLady said:
Of course I'm delighted. Properly regulated drivers who've had to do years of training for their jobs currently have some job security returned to them. I am so fed up of seeing people moaning about the cost of licensed cabs - it's not the cabbies, or even the companies that set the fare tariff - it's the bloody councils, and in this case, TfL....how could they possibly justify allowing another company to undercut the people they licence to work? And don't even get me started on the tax dodging of the parent company as a whole, or the whole seedy side to some of the people who as Uber drivers, or the failing to report serious incidents.
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totally agree with this. Uber can keep their license by mending their ways - and it makes economic sense for them to mend their ways. Shouldn't have been allowed to become so established with such a flawed working model but action is better late than never.

The 'sacked' dreivers - most will sign up with other companies as the same amount of journeys will be taken by the public.
 
Others have made the point. This is nothing to do with the cost of a black taxi. This is all to do with professional and ethical running of a company. I'm no fan of Khan or TFL but regulation, in this case, does as much as is possible to reduce illegal and, worse, immoral drivers in London. There is enough licensed competition to black cabs that play by these rules. Let's hope they don't cave in.

I was shocked at the price of a black cab a few weeks back just from City Airport to Canary Wharf. Then again a single bus or tube journey cost is extortionate. London isnt cheap for a tourist !
 
I'm working in London right now. So far, one Uber car was parked on East Smithfield on a red route blocking a lane asleep. Another has just been slung off a taxi rank opposite Tower of London and I have counted 15 driving past the site practically in a convoy all empty. They are a menace.
 
* ORM * said:
Others have made the point. This is nothing to do with the cost of a black taxi. This is all to do with professional and ethical running of a company. I'm no fan of Khan or TFL but regulation, in this case, does as much as is possible to reduce illegal and, worse, immoral drivers in London. There is enough licensed competition to black cabs that play by these rules. Let's hope they don't cave in.

I was shocked at the price of a black cab a few weeks back just from City Airport to Canary Wharf. Then again a single bus or tube journey cost is extortionate. London isnt cheap for a tourist !
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Oh yes it does.I was shocked at the price of a black cab from South Ken.to Fenchurch Street a year or so ago, (I'd been to see a Fulham game in the Xmas holiday period and there was a tube strike on the circle/district lines).

Interested to see a young black Londoner (maybe in his early 30's) say on C4 news yesterday he'd never taken a black cab in his life!
 
Museshrimper said:
Uber provide a better product, service and more convenience than cabbies, even if we ignore price.

1. You don't need to phone someone to book
2. You can see how long a taxi will take before you book it
3. You can see how long it will take after you book it
4. You can see the route you took and whether it was a good one
5. Don't need cash to pay - or in fact your wallet
6. Refunds if disputes arise on route/driver behaviour etc.

Cab companies/drivers must adapt or will struggle. How many other occupations are protected and revered in the same way as cabbies once technology makes the previously required skills redundant?
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In response to some of your points, from reading plenty of comments and hearing people speak at length on this, it would seem there are plenty of apps that you can use that will "call" a black cab in London. I don't know if you can pay by them as I don't remember having heard this, but, assuming they work the same way as the local cab company apps, then you can do everything you've just listed - except possibly the refund bit...as I have no idea how that works in practice. You can certainly pay on a credit card on the app which circuit my husband works on.

Aside from the fact my husband is a licensed Hackney carriage driver, I would always use what I consider to be a "proper" cab as I know how much work these people have put into learning what there is to be a cab driver, and that they're not relying on you to tell them how to get to where you want to go. That is apart from the fact that I know they will have properly undergone all the regulatory checks, DBS and vehicle.
 
Black cabs are over priced, uncomfortable and old. Uber or similar apps are the way forward and I think are actually safer. What would you rather do, wait in the street for a cab to go past and have to flag one down, not knowing who your driver is and what route they will take? Or wait in the pub you are in with your friends and leave when your cab pulls up (notified by the app, not some random call from an unknown number) know the route you are taking, know who your driver is and there contact details and also have your friends able to track your route. Not have to worry about paying as its done via the app (you can get home even if you lost your wallet on your night out) oh and if sharing a cab a split fair is made easy with just a few buttons
 
Chocolardo said:
Black cabs are over priced, uncomfortable and old. Uber or similar apps are the way forward and I think are actually safer. What would you rather do, wait in the street for a cab to go past and have to flag one down, not knowing who your driver is and what route they will take? Or wait in the pub you are in with your friends and leave when your cab pulls up (notified by the app, not some random call from an unknown number) know the route you are taking, know who your driver is and there contact details and also have your friends able to track your route. Not have to worry about paying as its done via the app (you can get home even if you lost your wallet on your night out) oh and if sharing a cab a split fair is made easy with just a few buttons
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Fill your boots..........for another week.
 
Chocolardo said:
Black cabs are over priced, uncomfortable and old. Uber or similar apps are the way forward and I think are actually safer. What would you rather do, wait in the street for a cab to go past and have to flag one down, not knowing who your driver is and what route they will take? Or wait in the pub you are in with your friends and leave when your cab pulls up (notified by the app, not some random call from an unknown number) know the route you are taking, know who your driver is and there contact details and also have your friends able to track your route. Not have to worry about paying as its done via the app (you can get home even if you lost your wallet on your night out) oh and if sharing a cab a split fair is made easy with just a few buttons
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What are you not listening to? The local councils set the tariffs, in this case TfL - your argument about the cost is with them not the people doing the work!

I've said there are apps, and you can pay by some of them, certainly on the ABC app, which is the circuit my husband works on locally. I think he and others, would prefer some people to pay by card as it reduces the number of idiots that think it's ok to do a runner!
 
Sounds like lyft (a much more ethically appealing alternative) are going to use this situation to try and aggressively enter the market. I used Lyft last week with a client in the states and the app and service seem really good.
 
Interesting story in The Times today.

 
Benfleet A1 said:
About bloody time. They are a pain in the arse on the roads of London, don't have a clue where they are going without a satnav and even then balls it up. Around 17000 vehicles off the road at any one time, whats not to like.
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Honest question - how do you know they are Uber drivers? I wasn't aware that they carried stickers or anything saying who they are?

Unlike Addison Lee, who I can see in plain sight and know to be about the least considerate drivers out there.
 
I have never used an Uber in London but I imagine that you are much less likely to be sat behind a West Ham or Millwall fan talking **** than in a black cab.

That has to be a plus.
 
Won't be long now before they'll be Uber (or alike) cab firms where there is absolutely no human interaction - from apps to driverless cars and they'll be tens of thousands out of work in one sector alone.
 
MK Shrimper said:
Won't be long now before they'll be Uber (or alike) cab firms where there is absolutely no human interaction - from apps to driverless cars and they'll be tens of thousands out of work in one sector alone.
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Fingers crossed!

There's definitely a market for barbers where they guarantee that they won't talk to you about anything other than your hair cut.
 
Pubey said:
Fingers crossed!

There's definitely a market for barbers where they guarantee that they won't talk to you about anything other than your hair cut.
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But what if you want something for the weekend? Where would I get my weekend allowance of Johnies Jonny?
 
MK Shrimper said:
Won't be long now before they'll be Uber (or alike) cab firms where there is absolutely no human interaction - from apps to driverless cars and they'll be tens of thousands out of work in one sector alone.
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That's actually Uber's long term strategy, they've invested heavily in driverless technology and if they aren't able to adopt it they'll have to put prices up in a few years because they are making billions in losses as it stands.
 
southendkid said:
That's actually Uber's long term strategy, they've invested heavily in driverless technology and if they aren't able to adopt it they'll have to put prices up in a few years because they are making billions in losses as it stands.
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It is worrying how many jobs in the near future will go due to technology. I was in a meeting today to introduce predictive maintenance from kit onboard passenger trains, where the core aim is to remove human track workers from the equation. Long way off yet, but still......
 
What gets me is that TFL gave Uber permission to work outside its boundaries, where every other borough in the country has strict laws about this. Also the cost of a taxi ride has been mentioned. That's down to the local council whose taxi you are getting in.
 
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