to be furious they have banned Uber from London?

[Acidophilus]

WTF?

Uber has itsbissues but this is ridiculous.

TFL have bowed to Black cab pressure and we will all pay massively for it. Or get mini cabs that are less safe and treat heir drivers worse.

Uber created zero jobs because uber didn't create more customers! They're people who would otherwise get a taxi or a minicab! Same amount of rides = same amount of work.

I'm seriously opposed to uber getting approved where I live! Well done london!

Goodness me!
They need to vet their drivers. No one is going to die.
Get a bloody grip!!

I have never taken over, but I know there are many drivers who discriminate against guide dogs so I don't like them. I don't have a guide dog, but I used to have one. And I feel really bad for my friends who have to fight with drivers.

Were you using Uber drivers decades ago? No. So Uber work didn't exist decades ago did it then? So I stand by what I said - that the Uber work didn't exist before Uber.

Flowerpot, are you seriously contending that people who use Ubers are people who never previously used cabs? It's self-evidently nonsense.

Last time I got in an Uber, it was with a friend who spent the whole journey trying to find out what the hell had happened to a Uber she had booked for her mother and which hadn't turned up. She never did find out, and had to phone a minicab company. She told me that it happens quite often that Uber cabs accept bookings and then just randomly cancel them without letting you know, presumably because something better has come up. I decided not to bother with getting the Uber app.

Acidophilus ALL taxi drivers, mini, black, Uber or otherwise, HAVE TO BE CRB checked by law. Fact

It is IMPOSSIBLE to CRB check foreign born drivers. (I have absolutely nothing against non-British drivers btw, never had a problem with one, ever) but people are very naive about this. The EU have some sharing of info, but even then you have to specifically request criminal records and countries can refuse. Outside the EU countries have no obligation to share their citizens data.

I.e. CRB or rather DBS checks only reveal crimes committee in the UK not in foreign countries.

Or at least crimes registered on UK records.

Foreign nationals can be asked provide certificates of convictions. Whether Uber ask for that and follow them up I've no idea.

No it's not! It's difficult to CRB NEW immigrants, but plenty of foreign birth people have been here long enough for their UK track record to count. And there are ways round it for non EU recent immigrants too, there are papers they can option from their home countries, its a longer process but it's not impossible. It has limitations, but is doable to background check foreign natiinals

Good. I would never use Uber over a black cab.

Of course their track record here 'counts' but they could have a clean record here yet committed a murder or rape back in their home country and it wouldn't show up.

Speaking as a born and bred Londoner, I know loads of people who use Uber who'd never dream of paying for a black cab except perhaps in an emergency. I definitely know people who only stay out late because of Uber, who feel Uber liberated them from having to catch the last tube/train home.

I personally wouldn't take a black cab. I use tube/buses or an Uber and if neither are options I would probably not go. I have many friends who are saying the exact same thing. None of us ever used black cabs before Uber.

Incidentally I am not a fan of Uber's practices by any means. I do use them when public transport is not an option but I try not to (unlike many of my colleagues who use Uber practically every day), and I regard them as a necessary evil. I'm not defending them, I'm just saying, yes, factually, there are people who use Uber who didn't use cabs before and won't use cabs now.

Sorry but I don't think the knowledge is outdated in the days of Sat Nav. Knowing the area and where hold ups will be, and how to avoid the latest issue in a busy city like London is much better than a Sat Nav can ever be. If you don't know your way then you won't know when the Sat Nav is saying something silly

^^ This.The estimated journey times by sat nav aren't always accurate and it is very easy to lose the signal in areas with lots of tall buildings. Sat navs are a useful tool, but there is a danger of over reliance of them and following them along nonsense routes.

Black cab drivers may use a sat nav as a tool, but they will probably ignore it plenty of times when their experience tells them it is sending them a stupid way.

Uber might be generally cheaper but it isn't always the case due to surge pricing. ON the BBC website there is a screenshot of someone paying £40 for a journey of less than 20 minutes due to a 2.5 x surge factor.

I'm sure Uber will continue to work in the capital but maybe they will sort out some of the very serious safety concerns after this warning. On some days and journeys black cabs are cheaper than uber. I've used both and definitely prefer a black cab. There are apps you can use to order them to where you are now as well.

Crb check of someone from a country which doesn't keep good records? Good luck with that.
The uk needs and ID card system, like the rest of Europe. So at least people cannot change their name slightly every 5 minutes.

Of course their track record here 'counts' but they could have a clean record here yet committed a murder or rape back in their home country and it wouldn't show up.

All uber drivers already have to be validated by the local authority, so they could just be driving a black/mini cab regardless. [hmmm]

I hope Uber have learned their lesson, make the necessary improvements and are back giving the black cabs competition asap.

I do not get the love for black cabs. They are uncomfortable and expensive, you sometimes have to stand for ages whilst multiple empty cabs drive past and I find many of the drivers quite aloof as if they're doing you a favour letting you in their cab.

On the other hand I can always get an Uber within 5 minutes (they have saved my bacon multiple times when I've been running late for school pick up), 99% the cars are great and the drivers are on the whole, friendly and helpful especially because they want a high feedback rating,

The Waze app beats The Knowledge hands down. No black cab driver will know that there is an obstruction causing delays on the next road but Waze will. The Knowledge is outdated technology and has been used by black cab drivers to cheat customers by extending routes.

Uber drivers will take you anywhere, black cab drivers are fussy about where they will go.

On the politics thing. I'm almost certain Sadiq Khan didn't do this for political reasons, he did it because it was right. as much as I like app, the company does need to clean up its act. In any case even if he did this in return for support from black cab drivers, he wouldn't get it as in my experience they are usually Essex/Kent based right wing Tories.

Finally, even if Uber don't get a license renewal a new rival will take their place. The days of black cabs are numbered outside of a couple of areas in zone 1. There's a massive demand for an alternative because black cabs refused to move with the times and many of the drivers have attitude problems with customers they don't like as well as other road users like cyclists and other cars.

I can't drive and I rely on uber to get my young kids to school. Pre-uber I would take the bus (no useful tube nearby) but they are v unpredictable and often made us late even when setting off really early. Would take us 45 mins to walk at our speed and some days we need to get there for 7.30 sports clubs. I could get a black cab but that would cost me over £100 a week. Uber is half that. I hope these issues can be resolved.

There are two things: do I care about Uber replacing black cabs and do I care about their practices.

On the first, I can very much understand the worries of black cab drivers, but don’t think they should be able to hold things back for their own benefit. I’ve been ripped off by them, had to listen to racist bullshit, plus in my experience they drive like twats with regard to pedestrians. Also, the handful that I have met personally were open about the fact they didn’t want to switch to card payments because they fiddle their taxes on a personal level.

Uber should not be able to wriggle out of giving employee rights but saying everyone’s self employed. I thought TFL did the checks on employees, not the company? But agree safety is important and if they need to pull their socks up, so be it.

However, the recent TFL consultation in mini cabs was obviously an ideological attack on the Uber model, so it makes me a bit suspicious that their licence has been revoked.

Anyway none of this will matter once Google release their driverless cars. Anybody studying for The Knowledge now is wasting their time.

Ceto
Flowerpot, are you seriously contending that people who use Ubers are people who never previously used cabs? It's self-evidently nonsense.

That would be self-evidently nonsense.

Which is why I didn't say anything remotely to do with that. Please follow the thread. A poster said Uber work was replacing jobs. I said Uber wasn't replacing jobs, it was creating new work, as driving for Uber whenever and for however long you want didn't exist before. A pp bizarrely said this can't be the case as they had been taking mini-cabs for years.

clueless

You really have lost the plot trying to argue that a totally lawless marketplace is the way forward.

There isn't a sane person in the land who would honestly want to see this - although think of the possibilities! Cheap, cheap flats which don't have to pass building regs! Cheap, cheap cars that don't need to comply to safety standards or have an MOT!
The removal of laws requiring car seats and seat belts!
We could all 'vote with our feet' to save those vital few pounds so essential to our weekend pissup funds...

I am curious, however, as to why you are So Very Outraged over Uber being taken to task over its non-compliance with regulations but totally silent on the banning of Taxify a few weeks ago
Same issue - they didn't meet the terms to qualify for an operators licence so had to stop trading.
And they were offering trips for 20% less than Uber.
Where is your indignation over that issue?

Head vs Heart on this one:

I dearly want the black cab drivers to survive and remain part of the fabric of London, but until they all use an app and contactless they will turn into a tourist attraction only. I don't use black cabs, ever.

Black cabs fares are set by TfL and are ridiculously expensive. I work for TfL and know that everything they run is ridiculously expensive. Hell, even I am.

I used to avoid Uber on the principle that they treated their drivers like shit and employed crap drivers. I used to use Addison Lee, until I needed an ad-hoc one to take my poorly cat home from the vet and the nearest one was 45 minutes away. They quoted me £13.

So I did a bad thing and went back on my principles. Lo and behold there was an Uber five minutes away and they will charge me £8 for the same trip! So slay me, I don't care. I felt dirty getting into that cab but couldn't believe how cheap it was!

Then it kept happening. No AL, but Uber nearby. I still feel grubby.

A customer at work wanted me to get her a cab from Hammersmith to Barking last night and a local taxi firm quoted me £46 (it was 3am). The customer said, "how fuckng much?" Quite. Addison Lee was £40, Uber was £26-32..

I still hate Uber for everything it stands for but it's driven by good prices and convenience. I hope revoking its licence gives it the kick up the arse it needs though the company did themselves no favours by saying "TfL should work with us" instead of the other way round. (Erm, who gives you permission to operate, Uber?)

Still grubby.