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Uber banned from london
kitz:
I can see both sides in this - ie how consumers want a cheaper product... and conversely about Ubers practices.
Whilst I appreciate that it may work well in other cities, from what I can gather there was some very real concerns about how Uber operated in London deeming them not fit and proper.
When it amounts to security and safety for passengers, and exploitation of employees then without doubt I think that TFL did the right thing.
sevenlayermuddle:
Thinking more upon it, tfl decided that Uber were not ‘fit and proper’.
It was not just a rogue employee after too many beers, or a rogue Mayor on an election campaign, it was an official statement from tfl. That statement will have been scrutinised at umpteen levels to make sure it could be justified in court, and vetted by lawyers to ensure the individual who issued the statement was showing due diligence. In short, it wasn’t a rant. The only reason for not making that statement would have been ‘fear of Uber’.
Regardless of whether or not you use and/or like Uber, and regardless of whether Uber or tfl end up winning the argument, let’s maybe let’s at least support tfl for standing up to bullying from $multibillion American corporations?
Chrysalis:
As I said its not just about price but in how the app itself has revolutionised the taxi business.
There is equivalent to black cabs in every city, Leicester has them as well, most often parked outside of the train station, they are of course super expensive as you have the meter running. Uber pricing is not much cheaper than pre booked taxi service (in my opinion about 10%). Does London have pre booking fixed price taxi services without meters or do black cabs have a monopoly?
sevenlayermuddle:
@chrysalis
The point is, TFL will have considered all these points, and I assume will be able to prove they have done so. Else, they would not have made their statements.
So, since we can assume that TFL have done all research and genuinely believe their position to be justifiable, should we not be supporting them in this UK-based David vs US-based Goliath battle?
BTW I still await response to my earlier question, re geographic distribution of petitioners. How many are actually Londoners? How many are even UK? I’d really like to know the answers.
Chrysalis:
They will back down, market demand will force the issue. You dont think TFL have been extensively lobbied by the black cabs before this decision?
Do you know 7LM if there is standard taxi firms in london? as to me riding in a uber isnt much different to that, the drivers I spoke to said they using the same vehicles as they did for those taxi firms.
According to uber there is background checks carried out on drivers, just not directly, they use a 3rd party.
If the taxi drivers can do a go slow protest, I think 500k+ people are also capable of a protest.
On the poll I got no idea how many are londoners, uber sent me the poll, knowing I dont live in london. But does that mean I will never in my lifetime perhaps want to use uber in london, or I shouldnt care because it doesnt affect me right now? Sorry I am not one of those people who only cares about #1.
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