Good-Bye Uber..?

Oh, sure, they'll just give up and go away. That's how they roll. Nice, law-abiding company that they are.

Bye bye free enterprise.

They are still allowed to operate as they are appealing this decision so people will still be able to ride-share.

They also have licences to operate elsewhere in the UK. London is a bit of a weird special case when it comes to the licencing of taxis and private hire vehicles. There are plenty of other operators with on demand apps to choose from as well, so Uber is less different than in some other countries.

Bye bye free enterprise.

There's free enterprise and there's breaking the law and putting customers lives at risk.

Free enterprise does not give a company carte blanche to do as they please.

Uber has lost over five billion dollars this year...so far. One of these days investors are going to want to see a return on their investment, fares will have to rise significantly to accomplish this and traditional taxis will start looking like a better value.

I am curious as to why taxi companies don’t mirror the ride sharing model. It has obvious benefits to the consumer. I have used it with success in the US, although never in Europe.

I am curious as to why taxi companies don’t mirror the ride sharing
model

Why would they? Uber has not proven to be profitable. They loose billions each year.

I thought Uber lost its London licence a couple of year's ago and appealed. Did they get their licence back and have now lost it again? Or is this a next step in the original decision?

And I've never understood quite what makes Uber different from other private hire firms. If the company has to be licensed and individual drivers licensed, is it just the "app" function that's different? I can already use a non-Uber taxi in my England home off-meter (or "fixed price") for an agreed journey.

According to the Beeb, Uber have been following some questionable practices, so probably best avoided for safety reasons anyway:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50544283

In the UK Uber do not run a 'ride share' model really at all. It is in effect an operator of private hire vehicles by a bunch of self-employed drivers delivering via an app (or at least that is how they would like to see it).

During this phase since the microscope was on them you might think they would want their behaviour to be seen to be squeaky clean, but maybe their systems are just not up to it if they allow impersonation without checking.

One of the strange things about London is that PHVs cannot have meters. There is no obvious reason for this as they can have them anywhere else, but in London these are restricted to taxis.

Thank you, Marco. That helps explain it more.

I notice from the BBC map that Uber is pretty much non-existent in the Home Counties. I wonder if that is because the business model only works in large cities. Simply out of interest, does the licence mean one can take an Uber from London or Heathrow to Oxford, but not use one in the other direction?

Anyway, not a company I think I'd want to use.

From what I can see, anyone can set themselves up as an Uber driver without any checks, vehicle insurance or training, which is why they should be banned. They aren’t a vehicle sharing outfit, they are just a branded private hire company. It’s not a matter of free enterprise, it’s about being road worthy and safe for passengers.

I notice from the BBC map that Uber is pretty much non-existent in the Home Counties. I wonder if that is because the business model only works in large cities.
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Not just the Home Counties with no Uber, there are whole counties and regions that don't have Uber.

There is already a long established taxi service that covers most towns and communities, licensed and controlled through the local council, either Private Hire vehicles where you phone and order a taxi on demand or pre-book, these use flat rate fares, or a Hackney Carriage taxi, these have a meter for fares and work off authorised town centre taxi ranks or maybe be a rank at a railway station forecourt.

Uber currently serve Portsmouth. They were cheap at first but now they're more expensive than the well established taxi companies. One effect that Uber did have on the existing companies was to encourage them to develop their own apps that work on the same principle as Uber, there's no need to use an Uber in Portsmouth now.

From what I can see, anyone can set themselves up as an Uber driver without any checks, vehicle insurance or training, which is why they should be banned.

No, to drive for Uber in the UK you need a private hire licence from a local council where Uber operates and Private Hire Insurance same as driving for any other PHV operator. Part of the process is a medical examination.

According to the news reports I've heard, there have been numerous incidents where Uber in London was not screening their drivers adequately, some had criminal records, and there were many unapproved drivers that applied using false information, or used other drivers' licenses to drive (i.e., the photo did not match the driver). In other words, it was a public safety issue. Uber had been warned by authorities, but that's not to say influence of taxi lobbyists, and politics didn't play a role. At least thats how its been reported here.

I haven’t used it, but does Free Now (used to be My Taxi) work the same way? A coach driver from Cork recommended it and it apparently works in a number of cities, but it gets bad reviews. I haven’t had occasion to need a taxi at random places in Europe, but I can see the day may come when my legs may suddenly decide they are done for the day wherever I am. I used a similar taxi app in Vancouver (at the end of a long trip where I splurged on taxis instead of the excellent public transportation “just because”) and it worked great.

There are a few apps that cover a number of towns and cities, with a subscribing cab firm having a monopoly in the area. Riide is one example which should work in more places in the UK than Uber does (as well as a handful of places n the USA and Canada) but is spotty in London.

Bye bye free enterprise.

There will be others. Uber will appeal so they're not off the road as of yet.

The reporting of this article is poor as it doesn't go into one of the big problems with Uber in London which is the fact that anyone can upload a photo to a driver's account. For more info, check out Wired.