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.

Tonight is a great example. My mum is babysitting, we got home 20 mins ago. Just for larks, I rang Furzedown Cars. 45 mins for the first taxi to take her back to Clapham. £12. I also use Lyft and tried them. No cars in my area at present. I tried Uber. 3 minutes and £7 and she is home. Honestly ... hand on heart Riding, what would you do?

I'm sorry no one else can match Uber for service. Maybe this will be the kick in the arse they all need. I'm told Google are currently ploughing money into Lyft.

Oh and for my work I'm only allowed to catch black cabs home when I work late. 50% of the time I am told I need to wait to go south. I really wish it was better, but just because you live 20 mins away from me, it evidently still means we can have different experiences. I'm happy for you that you're able to find taxis to take you south of the river. Here in my neck of the mean streets of Tooting it's a bit more hit and miss. You'll notice I'm not saying YOU are mistaken, you're just very fortunate to have a different experience - why will you not pay me that courtesy?

And by the way who is "catastrophising". I've used the following words "annoyed" and "unhappy", and applied them to both Uber and TfL. Yes I will manage without Uber of course. But why should I have to, if everyone including the execs at Uber had been doing their job properly.

Iain Martin‏ @iainmartin1
Idea we should all do what Uber says because it is shiny and new is daft. I'm for markets, regulated under the law

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iain_Martin

Yep you have to be a real leftie to think the decision by TfL is bad, all about the Unions and bad for market forces.

Unless you are about to prove to me somehow Iain Martin is a raving socialist and doesn't actively write for a pro-market on-line mag by the name of Reaction.

sigh

I've only used Uber when visiting London, after the last time I vowed to stick to black cabs, out of 4 experiences with Uber, only 1 was acceptable. Black cabs aren't cheap but the standard is consistently high and predictable.

raglansleeve.

Autofac. Part of Philip K Dicks Electric Dreams a series currently running on Channel 4.

www.imdb.com/title/tt6902176/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl

"Society and the world as we know it has collapsed. A massive, automatic factory operates according to the principles of consumerism; humans consume to be happy, and in order to consume continuously, they must be denied freedom of choice and free will. When a small band of rebels decide to shut down the factory, they discover they may actually be the perfect consumers after all."

—Channel 4

Because you're 5 mins down the road from me and I don't believe you have fundamentally different experience of black cabs from everyone I know in S.London going back 40 years

Well I'm also SE15 Riding. We sure have different experiences of using BC.

Is the real issue - we need a safe, affordable cab service and we don't have one?

Big issue for women, children.

Turqoiuse123 How?

They will win their appear I'm sure of it but they do need to sort their issues out. Black cab prices are crazy - 3 to 4 times more than Uber usually.

I have never had a bad Uber experience.

DW and I swear by Uber. They have never let us down. Value for money which the black cabs are not.

They will win their appear I'm sure of it

Not unless they completely change, & then they'll just be another cab company like Addison Lee. Their image is shite & investors will pull out, I think uber have a mounting to climb, & if they're not willing to play by all the rules ( which they'll find hard ) then it's game over.
Someone else will take there place though so don't worry too much. I'd worry more about N. Korea & the U.S starting WW3 ( which is coming ) than I would about your £4 cab ride.

"I'd worry more about N. Korea & the U.S starting WW3 ( which is coming ) than I would about your £4 cab ride"

Yes indeed. It's a well known fact that if people worry about one thing they can't possibly be concerned about anything else

Khan had refused to meet Uber at all (typical) but now Uber are forcing the issue he seems to be agreeing to meet and discsus the issues.

600,000 have signed the petition already in support of Uber. Those of us who support Uber against the socialists and Khan you can vote here

www.change.org/p/save-your-uber-in-london-saveyouruber?recruiter=792416512&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive

20,.000 Uber drivers have also emailed Khan.

Why could Khan have not just sat down in the first place with Uber and talked about what he wants to maintain their licence?

Or you could sign this petition, asking Uber to sort their act out so they can have their licence back:

Uber: play by the rules and get your London license back
you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/uber-shape-up-give-drivers-the-rights-they-need-to-work-in-london

I'm pleased. We don't need cheap rides around town. We like them. Let's save the planet and use mass transit whenever possible. Most of us are quite capable. There are exceptions. (My ownother is registered disabled for example.). But most people whining are just lazy and greedy. Either pay what a private ride should cost, where the driver can make a dignified living, or walk, bike or take the bus. Uber is exploitive. Everyone trying to justify their own cheapness/indolence is unseemly.

@perking i don't care about uber - i have never used them and i do just fine. Not keen on greyball.

@empress aren't you the holy one. Make a decent living by fleecing customers? Ah: no. They won't last anyway - i was just interested to hear who are the people still supporting them.

Oh yay, the public triumphs at getting their barely regulated slave labour back
Who cares who might be driving because the checks haven't been done. Who cares how many hours they have to work to actually make a wage after deductions. Who cares about the employee rights getting ridden roughshod over. Who cares if they refuse people with guide dogs just so long as it's cheap.

Empress makes a fair point actually

Uber need to evolve ,the BC also need to evolve

Nature abhors a vacuum and let's hope a more ethical alternative pops up

Londoners try Green Tomato they use hybrid and are reasonably priced

I for one have got way too used to convenient £15 journeys without reallly thinking about the ethics

We complain when nothing is done against companies that break the rules and skim money from the public yet this time folk are upset about action being taken. Must be because there will be some inconvenience for those willing to support a company that is flaunting even some moral issues never mind financial.

What would I do Londonista? I have 5+ cab companies on speed dial so if one says 20 mins I ring another and they say straight away. One of the reasons I never used Uber much, aside from ethical objections, was simply because it was generally quicker to get a mini cab. And for short journeys (lift from the station), a black cab is generally quicker and cheaper.

I appreciate that it must be frustrating that I'm struggling to credit your account, but I can't lie and pretend it sounds plausible.

I've worked in central London for firm with a black cab only policy too and I've never been refused a journey to S.London, nor even been asked to wait. You're only about 5 mins from me, not 20 mins, it's the same borough. If it were Peckham or Bromley, I'd say different.

Why didn't Khan have talks? Because it's a game! Uber are used to lobbying their way out of a hole as they did with the previous mayor and the Cameron government. Khan raised the stakes by making them face the possibility of losing their license thus strengthening his negotiating position.

I have no doubt uber will retain their licence after making some changes

Meh, Men. People decide all tha time and in general elections if they want to go for over regulation and the nanny state or personal freedom. The 600,000 + of us who are signed the pro Uber petition in the last few days are a pretty strong voice.