4 ms·

>Other rejected measures included: > a minimum five-minute delay between pick-up confirmations being sent out and drivers being able to collect their passenger

>Other rejected measures included: > a minimum five-minute delay between pick-up confirmations being sent out and drivers being able to collect their passengers > a requirement that private-hire companies let customers pre-book cars up to seven days in advance Um. Perhaps it would be better if the black cabs focused their efforts on enhancing their own user experience rather than trying to artificially cap it? :) Also, this article links to nothing regarding the decision, it's just a single (unnamed) author's quick take, which is disappointing - if he/she is going to write so little, could they please provide a link to a first-hand source (the decision itself?) or a more thorough analysis? I see from this that there are still several (perhaps minor) measures up in the air, and one measure that will be adopted is a "formal English language requirement[1]." [1] http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/20/uber-tfl-consultation-win/ http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/20/uber-tfl-consultation-win... (P.S. first post - did I link properly?)

JonFish85 11y ago
"Um. Perhaps it would be better if the black cabs focused their efforts on enhancing their own user experience rather than trying to artificially cap it? :)" That's certainly valid, but on the flip side, shouldn't Uber at least compete on even ground? They basically storm into town, ignoring things like taxi medallions and such. That's why laws like these start to get enforced, so that Uber can't try to sneak past laws by saying "we're not a cab company we're a <something only slightly different>".
- robbrulinski 11y ago
  Why is it Uber's job to allow other companies to keep up with them?
  - daveguy 11y ago
    It's just uber's job to comply with all regulation. Insurance, training, safety, etc. Generally those laws are in place for a reason. Claiming they are a "ride sharing" app to avoid commercial transport regulations is disingenuous at best. Edit: Obviously artificial quality reduction legislation is a bad idea, but uber as a company has been pretty adamant about ignoring all regulation. Even if it is a bad regulation you don't ignore it, you lobby to get it changed.
- mattlutze 11y ago
  Uber is competing on even ground. They've apparently designed a system that falls on the legal side of these medallion market protectionist schemes in most/many/a lot of locations. They're operating in the confines of municipal law. There's a few taxi and black cab app hailing services that make Uber et. al. moot here in southern Germany. TaxiMagic, for example, is great and provides the full core set of capabilities (favorite drivers, estimated costs, time-to-pickup, in-app payments, etc.) and is actually a network of medallion-holding taxi drivers. Consider that, if taxi companies offered competitive phone-based reservations (removing the convenience market differentiatior), they'd actually end up being the more reliable provider. No surge pricing, more consistent availability of favorite drivers, more predictable trunk/boot sizes ( no worrying if your luggage will fit when all the taxis in the city are ___ cars). etc. There's a bunch of these app companies champing at the bit to find taxi providers to partner up. Which is to say... incumbent taxi ecosystems can absolutely be competitive and possibly offer a richer/more lucrative range of services beyond the awkward ride-along you get with an occasional Uber driver.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - thesimon 11y ago
    >Consider that, if taxi companies offered competitive phone-based reservations And instead, they are suing apps like MyTaxi in Germany. [1] The app allowed you to call cabs and pay via the app. But because MyTaxi promoted their app with discounts - even though MyTaxi paid for these - they sued them. Because f*, we don't need any new customers. And considering they sued Uber as well, it seems like most taxi driver associations just don't want to improve and hope for the best. Another example: In Berlin, they went to court over a new law forcing them to accept cards and collect a 1.50€ surcharge for it. And this is even though a 1.50€ surcharge greatly covers their costs. https://sumup.de https://sumup.de for example charges 0.95% for the debit cards that are very popular in Germany, so they make a profit for all payments under 158€ which seem very rare. And SumUp is quite expensive already. They seriously need to improve their product. "Sorry, no app orders", "Sorry, card machine is broken", "Sorry, xyz" [1] http://news.newsdirectory2.com/daimler-subsidiary-mytaxi-threatens-new-front-for-discount-offers/ http://news.newsdirectory2.com/daimler-subsidiary-mytaxi-thr...
corobo 11y ago
> Um. Perhaps it would be better if the black cabs focused their efforts on enhancing their own user experience rather than trying to artificially cap it? :) Bingo. For me personally the user experience starts with the price. The reason I tried Uber in the first place was because a black cab trip was £40 or so, the equivalent Uber was around £22 (with a bonus £10 off with a first travel code). I'm also a sucker for all things fancy and arriving in one of Uber's cars, while not exactly a stretch limo affair, just felt more classy than your bog standard cab. I also love the fact you can just move your slider across the more fancy you want your trip to be when booking. I'm not familiar with London cabs either so I just assumed they were the same as cabs in my local town - Cash only. There were a couple that advertised they accept credit/debit but then you face the issue of picking a cab in the middle of the rank. Will they allow take the fare? Will the cab driver at the front of the queue throw a fit? Is someone going to get in trouble with a union if I just get in? Far easier to just tap in your destination and have a car turn up knowing you're all paid up and good to go. On a final note it's probably driver specific rather than service specific but the Uber drivers I encountered didn't say a word after the initial greeting while I was riding until prompted by me. For someone that ends the day craving peace and quiet this was a godsend. I strongly dislike the idle chatter conversations you tend to get in taxis on the way home - just let me chill out and drop me off somewhere I can sleep! It's quite possible you get all of that (minus the type of car) in a cab, but where do you even go to see that? Uber is branded as almost private cars for the everyday person so you go into it expecting a classy affair. Heck it could be that cabs just need a decent rebranding campaign.

JonFish85 11y ago

"Um. Perhaps it would be better if the black cabs focused their efforts on enhancing their own user experience rather than trying to artificially cap it? :)" That's certainly valid, but on the flip side, shouldn't Uber at least compete on even ground? They basically storm into town, ignoring things like taxi medallions and such. That's why laws like these start to get enforced, so that Uber can't try to sneak past laws by saying "we're not a cab company we're a <something only slightly different>".

robbrulinski 11y ago
Why is it Uber's job to allow other companies to keep up with them?
- daveguy 11y ago
  It's just uber's job to comply with all regulation. Insurance, training, safety, etc. Generally those laws are in place for a reason. Claiming they are a "ride sharing" app to avoid commercial transport regulations is disingenuous at best. Edit: Obviously artificial quality reduction legislation is a bad idea, but uber as a company has been pretty adamant about ignoring all regulation. Even if it is a bad regulation you don't ignore it, you lobby to get it changed.
mattlutze 11y ago
Uber is competing on even ground. They've apparently designed a system that falls on the legal side of these medallion market protectionist schemes in most/many/a lot of locations. They're operating in the confines of municipal law. There's a few taxi and black cab app hailing services that make Uber et. al. moot here in southern Germany. TaxiMagic, for example, is great and provides the full core set of capabilities (favorite drivers, estimated costs, time-to-pickup, in-app payments, etc.) and is actually a network of medallion-holding taxi drivers. Consider that, if taxi companies offered competitive phone-based reservations (removing the convenience market differentiatior), they'd actually end up being the more reliable provider. No surge pricing, more consistent availability of favorite drivers, more predictable trunk/boot sizes ( no worrying if your luggage will fit when all the taxis in the city are ___ cars). etc. There's a bunch of these app companies champing at the bit to find taxi providers to partner up. Which is to say... incumbent taxi ecosystems can absolutely be competitive and possibly offer a richer/more lucrative range of services beyond the awkward ride-along you get with an occasional Uber driver.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- thesimon 11y ago
  >Consider that, if taxi companies offered competitive phone-based reservations And instead, they are suing apps like MyTaxi in Germany. [1] The app allowed you to call cabs and pay via the app. But because MyTaxi promoted their app with discounts - even though MyTaxi paid for these - they sued them. Because f*, we don't need any new customers. And considering they sued Uber as well, it seems like most taxi driver associations just don't want to improve and hope for the best. Another example: In Berlin, they went to court over a new law forcing them to accept cards and collect a 1.50€ surcharge for it. And this is even though a 1.50€ surcharge greatly covers their costs. https://sumup.de https://sumup.de for example charges 0.95% for the debit cards that are very popular in Germany, so they make a profit for all payments under 158€ which seem very rare. And SumUp is quite expensive already. They seriously need to improve their product. "Sorry, no app orders", "Sorry, card machine is broken", "Sorry, xyz" [1] http://news.newsdirectory2.com/daimler-subsidiary-mytaxi-threatens-new-front-for-discount-offers/ http://news.newsdirectory2.com/daimler-subsidiary-mytaxi-thr...

corobo 11y ago

> Um. Perhaps it would be better if the black cabs focused their efforts on enhancing their own user experience rather than trying to artificially cap it? :) Bingo. For me personally the user experience starts with the price. The reason I tried Uber in the first place was because a black cab trip was £40 or so, the equivalent Uber was around £22 (with a bonus £10 off with a first travel code). I'm also a sucker for all things fancy and arriving in one of Uber's cars, while not exactly a stretch limo affair, just felt more classy than your bog standard cab. I also love the fact you can just move your slider across the more fancy you want your trip to be when booking. I'm not familiar with London cabs either so I just assumed they were the same as cabs in my local town - Cash only. There were a couple that advertised they accept credit/debit but then you face the issue of picking a cab in the middle of the rank. Will they allow take the fare? Will the cab driver at the front of the queue throw a fit? Is someone going to get in trouble with a union if I just get in? Far easier to just tap in your destination and have a car turn up knowing you're all paid up and good to go. On a final note it's probably driver specific rather than service specific but the Uber drivers I encountered didn't say a word after the initial greeting while I was riding until prompted by me. For someone that ends the day craving peace and quiet this was a godsend. I strongly dislike the idle chatter conversations you tend to get in taxis on the way home - just let me chill out and drop me off somewhere I can sleep! It's quite possible you get all of that (minus the type of car) in a cab, but where do you even go to see that? Uber is branded as almost private cars for the everyday person so you go into it expecting a classy affair. Heck it could be that cabs just need a decent rebranding campaign.