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Uber secures right to continue operating in London
- itsdsmurrell 6y agoThis is great. Let the competitors come.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- dan1234 6y agoSo long as the correct background checks are carried out on the drivers, I’m all for it.
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoI think I'd want to add: cars are checked for roadworthy-ness every month, the drivers are paid properly, the parent companies pay taxes. I think commercial drivers should have a far higher standard of legal driving to attain too - points on you license should exclude you.
- saddlerustle 6y agoI'd rather have a lower fare than any of those things.
- pbhjpbhj 6y agoSeems like they're all pretty low cost as the infrastructure is already there. The government already know your employers (tax records), points on your license (DVLA), have whistleblower systems for below minimum wage, have MOT system for car testing. Moreover there are online systems for sharing your license details (used eg when hiring a car), checking MOT details, checking tax (HMRC) and company info (Co.Ho). Would you pay 1% more to know your driver hasn't got points for drink driving, wasn't driving a vehicle with an unattended brake advisory, and hadn't been forced to work 14h straight by an errant employer?
- mas3god 6y agoCrazy to think london has the right to tell you what cars you can sit in.
- te_chris 6y agoIrony now is that, thanks to competition, getting a car in London if it's busy now requires trying your luck with Kapten, Bolt, Uber, Ola, and, if all fails, Gett/FreeNOW for a Black Cab. All the drivers freely admit that they're driving for all the apps, which is great, but it can be a nightmare actually getting a car sometimes due to supply being spread across 4 or 5 apps now. Feels like a TFL run app would be best, but maybe that's communist or something?
- selfhoster11 6y agoThe UK doesn't have the "shared == communist" mentality from what I can tell. Communism is not such a dirty word either.
- mhh__ 6y agoWell, the Labour party just ran their most socialist campaign in years and suffered a historic defeat.
- silveroriole 6y agoBut also the biggest party membership in a long time, the Tories quietly ‘adopting’ some of their policies post-election, the derided free internet idea seeming weirdly prescient when Covid hit, the number of people who voted Tory to ‘get Brexit done’... it’s more complicated than “they lost because people hate socialism”. e: according to the downvotes, no, it is because people hate socialism. It must be nice to live in a world with such simple answers eh :)
- dkdbejwi383 6y ago> e: according to the downvotes, no, it is because people hate socialism. It must be nice to live in a world with such simple answers eh :) It's probably because a lot of users on here are American (and thus pre-disposed to hate "socialism") and also a large number of users on here are wanna ultra-paneer libertarian bozos who think they want a minimalist, economically liberal government so that their startup can _finally_ make the millions it would be making if it wasn't held back by the red menace
- bb123 6y agoI wonder how many more times we are going to have to go through this political posturing game with this 'revoked-but-not-really-revoked' licence system. By now we all know there is no real possibility of Uber not actually operating in London, and all of these threats by TfL et al. are completely empty. I'm sure Uber knows this too.
- jonplackett 6y agoThe idea that Uber is somehow more dangerous than a black cab or minicab - neither of which keep any record of who is driving, where they took you or who you are is just silly. Taxis in London were just terrible (and expensive) until Uber
- secondcoming 6y agoYup. Black cabs are only really for tourists and people in a desparate rush. I can't remember the last time I got one.
- jonplackett 6y agoAnd remember all that stress of making sure you had enough money left for a cab at the end of the night? Then getting stuck somewhere weird because you didn’t? Or the minicab getting completely lost? Or charging you 2X what you agreed? Or having the back seat covered in vomit? Oh the fun of pre-Uber cabs.
- jonplackett 6y agoOh and the stress of watching the meter tick up and up past how much money you have and then having to do a detour to a cash point costing you even more money and the driver getting really mad at you because they think you’re doing a runner?
- mytailorisrich 6y agoWell, they did not want to accept cards because cards cost them and leave a trail. It was a case of them wanting their cake and eating it too. Uber and friends effectively forced them (or local authorities) to accept cards. Where I live the council and taxis have been endlessly moaning about Uber but a couple of years ago they made accepting card payments mandatory for black cabs... Cause and effect.
- JAlexoid 6y ago
- JamesBaxter 6y agoThere are so many adverts for Uber in London now, including buying the naming of the already existing Thames Clipper boat service [1] (previously MBNA Clippers). I think they are worried about the competition and spending a lot to be the first company you think of (after TFL) when you think about traveling in London. [1]https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/08/uber-to-launch-london-commuter-boat-service-with-thames-clippers https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/08/uber-to-l...
- antihero 6y agoThey now also seem to have their branding on the Thames Clippers, too.
- ionwake 6y agoHas the price of an Uber gone up since they first started ( in London ) ?
- richardARPANET 6y agoYes
- thrw1211 6y agoThrowaway for obvious reasons. I work at Uber and have worked on the London project. I've yet to see such extensive compliance requirements asked from a regulator - that, in Uber's case, is successfully met, after a LOT of investment. Examples include listing every single change weeks ahead of time before launch for approval with the regulator, having a full internal audit of any changes that impact London, and many others that required building new workflows, systems and hiring dedicated London personel. Many of these are well beyond the things the public discusses and is aware of - like the driver verification (which Uber now does realtime, through the app, with some pretty neat technology). For Uber to keep operating, a larger team dedicated just for compliance is in place, and large systems for these kinds of compliant tracing have been built. I am curious to see if TFL will make these asks public and roll out the same requirements that Uber has to fulfill for their operation as mandatory for all other operators. Or if these requirements remain private, between Uber and TFL, and other competitors get a pass on them. Kapten, Bolt, Ola and FreeNow currently do not have the same asks coming from TFL and I know that several of these services do not have the guardrails in place that Uber has already.
- michaelt 6y agoThis is absolutely, 100% the consequence of Uber's own actions. Uber have taught regulators that, if you're friendly to Uber and give them time to stop breaking the rules, they'll tool up for a fight with you instead of spending the time getting their house in order. That may be a good approach in cities where the taxis are all run by the mob or something and the regulators are all corrupt - but there's no denying they're lying in the bed they chose to make.
- curiousllama 6y agoI can't speak to London in particular, but what you say also holds for the US. And I wonder if they took the same approach because of a similar set of circumstances. In the US, Uber's aggression was pretty clearly the only way to ever launch - they had to (1) break the rules, (1) delay in court, and (3) grow like crazy, so that by the time their law-breaking is proven, they're too popular to outlaw. Now, their incentives are different because they're the incumbent. They WANT to work under heavy regulation (just like the taxis did!). So, if the same is true in the UK, I wonder if it still makes sense to layer it on, knowing that eventually the other players will have to overcome the same barriers.
- curiousllama 6y ago> 24 drivers shared their accounts with 20 others which led to 14,788 rides. It's very interesting to me how aggressive and clever some people are in breaking the law, all in order to... work a sub-minimum-wage job. Obviously shouldn't be allowed, but seeing as the scammers happened to be otherwise honest and hard working (from what I can tell, at least), I can't help but think this is all the result of a fairly wholesome scam.
- dspillett 6y agoHow effective is blocking their operation anyway, without it being done on a national level? People in York can not be licensed to operate for Uber due to a similar ban, but that doesn't stop people from nearby Leeds and Doncaster driving in to operate in the area. Given that Leeds is currently under "extra measures" from a C19 PoV, letting people from York drive for Uber would probably be the safer option.
- thefounder 6y ago>> How effective is blocking their operation anyway, without it being done on a national level? I guess local authorities (York) could fine Uber for doing that and sue them if they don't pay. Simple as that.
- dspillett 6y agoI don't think it is that simple. IIRC they only have the power to not license, or to revoke operating licenses, in their area and they can't stop drivers from other areas coming in. I'm not sure if this would apply to more traditional cab companies or if it is a factor of Uber drivers being classed as self-employed.
- iso1631 6y agoMy understanding of minicab licenses is that if you're licensed in Leeds, you are licensed to take a fare from Leeds to York, or from York to Leeds, but not from York to York, or York to Doncaster?
- thefounder 6y agoWhat do you mean? can't the authorities fine for local rules violarion such parking, zero emission zones or...unlicensed taxi service ?
- renewiltord 6y agoWell, you don’t want to do that because you want the Leeds driver to be able to take a passenger from York to Leeds or he’s never going to realistically be able to take a passenger from Leeds to York (because he’d have to go back empty).
- wdb 6y agoHighly disappointing in this decision, I have had two encounters with Uber drivers, one which the driver near accident, and then the driver got out of his car to hit me, and I am counting 11 months and still haven't been able to reach out to a human at Uber about this case.
- delfinom 6y agoPolice report for the assault would get their attention....especially if you took it to the local news
- wdb 6y agoOf course, it's reported to the police, the driver is being prosecuted. That's not the problem, the problem is that Uber doesn't bother to answer emails regarding this assault case. They appear don't want to deal with it. I find this worrisome.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- dan_m2k 6y agoYeah. Hackneys weren't great, but ubiquitous and convenient in London (even if it was like travelling in blender). Mini cabs were/are ass, in every UK city, and they deserved to get disrupted. And the net effect is that the whole market had to compete for it's market share again, which meant a better experience for the customer overall. I laugh when I encounter a super local minicab service that has maybe a half dozen drivers, you book them by phone, radios them to go to pickups and still only take cash. Who are ordering these jalopies? Meanwhile, anyone serious has an app, contactless payment/prepayment and real time ETA. Much better.
- hikerclimber 6y agouber is one of the worst companies I ever had a car ride from drive took for ever and it smelt like puke...
- 1nikoalvin1 6y agodoesn't matter anyway. the prices are still going to be $50 a ride
- intricatedetail 6y agoJust politicians filling their boots while pretending they try to help. Utterly disgusting.
- tibbydudeza 6y agoGood experiences with Uber the few times I had to but I wonder if the drivers actually make a living. Sure you get a weekly income but most drivers don't take into account the additional costs of depreciation and wear/tear on their cars. Their big play is self driving transport but they are years away from that no matter the usual "within 6 months" predictions from Elon.