Birmingham UK: we have black cabs/hackneys (Taxi Operators Association, TOA)[1] that you can hail in the street and we have Private Hire cars that you must book

Birmingham UK: we have black cabs/hackneys (Taxi Operators Association, TOA)[1] that you can hail in the street and we have Private Hire cars that you must book in advance. Both require an appropriate licence from the City Council, and the licence requires appropriate insurance. Charges for the licences do not appear to be huge [2], but there is a moratorium in operation on the granting of Hackney licences at present [3]. Many of the Private Hire cars have both the local operator and an Uber sticker on the car. As an older gent with a Blackberry, I shall continue to phone seven sevens when I need to book a taxi. Younger people with smart phones appear to be using the Uber app, but there are also apps for the various Private Hire operators and for the TOA. One wonders if there is an opportunity for a 'meta-app' that can price a journey using all three apps and then suggest the cheapest. I am not aware of any UberPop style activity. I suspect that carrying passengers for money in the UK is quite regulated and that trying to get round that would lead to difficulties. Buses/trains/metro are OK for most of what I do except for returning from convivial social gatherings late at night where I will prefer to use a taxi. [1] http://www.toataxis.co.uk/ http://www.toataxis.co.uk/ [2] http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagename=SystemAdmin%2FCFPageLayout&cid=1223092597491&packedargs=website%3D4&pagename=BCC%2FCommon%2FWrapper%2FCFWrapper&rendermode=live http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite?c=Page&childpagena... [3] http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/taxi-licensing http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/taxi-licensing