The Lemon Fool

It looks as if Uber might be about to disappear from London (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41358640).

What other ride hailing apps are there covering the Greater London area (e.g. covering not only inner London but also the London bits of Surrey & Middlesex, Heathrow, etc) that are also cashless, i.e. allow one to set up a credit card for the fare to be charged to.

I know of Hailo but unless things have changed that's tied to london black cabs I think and I've always found them extremely expensive and sometimes quite hostile when picking up and finding that it's going to be a short trip. I've had some horrible experiences being picked up at Heathrow in the past. (I tried to look at the Hailo site but my computer anti virus software is telling me that it's a dangerous site and won't let me look at it!)

- Julian

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bill ... -work.html

Slarti

Julian wrote:It looks as if Uber might be about to disappear from London (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-41358640).

...

I've read elsewhere that, given their intention to appeal, the report of their demise is somewhat premature, in that the appeal process will take many months.

I think the refusal to renew their licence is a disgraceful decision. I've used Uber many times, and it's a great service. Black cabs are way too expensive, and I've no idea, given London traffic conditions, how much I'm going to end up paying. I've often been sat in a cab, watching the meter tick inexorably upwards and thinking I'd be better off walking, both in time and money terms.

I've also actually found it easier to get an Uber cab than flag down a black cab, and even if I do manage to flag down a black cab it pi**es me off when they make it clear that they aren't happy about a short distance trip.

I also love the fact that there's no expectation of a tip from Uber, unlike a black cab where the moral pressure to pay a hefty tip on top of an already exorbitant fare is just adding insult to injury.

In principle I like the black cab as a traditional part of the London scene, and I'm sure they will continue to be used by those on expense accounts. However, for the rest of us poor plebs Uber is a brilliant service and I feel that this decision is a politically oriented one from a Luddite Labour party aided and abetted by what is effectively a very powerful union of black cab drivers.

To some extent I can sympathise with the drivers who have invested a lot in `the knowledge' and are certainly better at finding their way around London than the average satnav. But like many other craft skills - the old printing skills are a good analogy - they have been overtaken by technology, so why should people (no doubt the decision will be repeated in other Labour Councils) be denied the benefits of that technology just because of a small number of problems that don't affect 99.9% of Uber customers.

I think it's a bad decision, and I believe and hope it will be overturned on appeal.

I've just noticed that there's a petition that Uber supporters can sign - http://chn.ge/2wGg5Ej

Thanks all. I agree, or at least I sincerely hope, that this is a bit premature and that something will be worked out. Maybe it's just a ploy to get Uber's attention and get it on the back foot. I really hope that TFL are going to work constructively with Uber to make sure that its barriers to getting its license renewed are clearly identified and timescales set for fixing them, i.e. work to keep Uber active in London rather than how it appears right now which seems to me to be very much a "bye bye, you're gone" message.

Thanks Clitheroekid for the link to the petition. Currently at over 139,000 signatures and it was only 80-something thousand when I first looked about half an hour ago so growing fast.

- Julian

Clitheroekid wrote:I think the refusal to renew their licence is a disgraceful decision. I've used Uber many times, and it's a great service.

100% agree. There is a similar move afoot to try and curtail that other popular Sharing Economy vehicle Airbnb.

I'm getting really tired of other people trying to tell me what is good for me and trying to limit my choices.

Lootman wrote: There is a similar move afoot to try and curtail that other popular Sharing Economy vehicle Airbnb.

Good grief!!! On what grouhnds? (I'm not querying Lootman's claim incidentally!)

didds

didds wrote:

Lootman wrote: There is a similar move afoot to try and curtail that other popular Sharing Economy vehicle Airbnb.

Good grief!!! On what grouhnds? (I'm not querying Lootman's claim incidentally!)

didds

Ah...

https://www.ft.com/content/952a8f86-961 ... f38d484582 - the land of the free eh?

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/30/how-the ... g_partner/

Hmmm... I can see the concern now. I'm not sure its the right way to go about it, but I can see the alleged abuses...

didds

didds wrote:

Lootman wrote: There is a similar move afoot to try and curtail that other popular Sharing Economy vehicle Airbnb.

Good grief!!! On what grounds? (I'm not querying Lootman's claim incidentally!)

Yeah, Berlin, Barcelona, New York and San Francisco have all restricted Airbnb use on the claimed grounds that it is removing long-term rental housing from the market in favour of short-term letting. I don't buy that argument personally but evidently some people believe it.

With Uber I think it is more the monopoly cab companies that are complaining. But I think that some on the left have decided that the sharing economy is a force for evil.

Sometimes I think I want a government that just does nothing.

Lootman wrote:

Sometimes I think I want a government that just does nothing.

quite! Belgium didn't have a government at all for almost 2 years recently...

didds

There's an article over at Bloomberg that is perhaps a bit extreme but worth a read. The title is "London's Uber Ban Is a Big Brexit Mistake: Why would tech companies want to invest in the U.K. and subject themselves to such a slap in the face?".

I'm no fan of Uber, and it's true there have been some pretty appalling corporate antics (look up Greyball). Nevertheless the decision does seem draconian and backwards looking.

Nevertheless the decision does seem draconian and backwards looking.

Or even forward looking: it is economically very unsatisfactory if a significant fraction of the cost of everyday activities is siphoned off to another part of the world.
In my experience the principal effect of Airbnb, for example, has been to raise the cost of B and B accomodation.