Member Article

TfL’s proposed changes to London taxi regulations ‘would mean an end to Uber’

Uber is currently facing the biggest threat in its short history in the city of London. The taxi app, which uses GPS technology to connect drivers with customers, is being targeted by Transport for London (TfL) following an ongoing dispute between Uber and the capital’s black cab drivers.

Today, TfL announced it will be launching a consultation on the taxi industry as a whole, proposing certain measures including forcing operators to provide booking confirmation details to the passenger at least five minutes before a journey starts. This directly affects Uber, which picks up customers three minutes after the request is submitted, on average.

Garrett Emmerson, chief operating officer for surface transport at TfL, said: “We are launching a public consultation in order to inform and improve the regulations that govern the capital’s private hire trade,”

“In recent years the private hire industry has grown exponentially and technology has also developed rapidly,”

“The consultation sets out a number of ways that standards across the industry could be raised, ensuring Londoners can continue to benefit from the service provided by licensed private hire vehicles. No final decisions have been made and we’re keen to hear a range of views from the trade and from Londoners, too.”

In response to the proposals, Uber said: “If adopted these [rules] would mean an end to the Uber people know and love.”

Earlier this month, black cab drivers held a demonstration outside city hall protesting against the rise of the San Francisco-founded taxi company, which currently boasts around 80,000 drivers in the city. Boris Johnson, who oversees TfL, called the protesters “luddites” in defense of the ‘new technology’ affecting the industry.

A leaked copy of the rules for consultation, published on the BBC, rules:

• Specific requirement for an English language test
• New training for private hire vehicles
• Operators must provide a specified fare prior to a booking being accepted
• Fixed landline must be available at all times

Gareth Mead, from Uber, said: “If you think that this is supposed to be a public consultation, well I think the public are not at the heart of the proposals that have been made so far.

“I think if the recommendations do progress then clearly we would need to change the way we approach the service and ultimately it ends up being more clunky which is not what people want.”

“If adopted these [rules] would mean an end to the Uber people know and love.”

Kabbee’s CEO & Founder, Justin Peters commented: “Kabbee welcomes regulations which help to improve the quality of the sector, however most of the new rules are ultimately designed to benefit black taxi drivers, over the 78K+ private hire drivers in London. We strongly urge TfL to consider making a set of requirements that are applicable and fair to both parties, as each one plays an essential role in providing a safe and reliable transport service for Londoners.

“We work with more than 60 licensed minicab fleets via our aggregator platform and we already provide fixed, upfront fares for passengers, along with the option to pre-book a journey. We believe that consumers are just as important as drivers, therefore we have a 24/7 customer service with a telephone line set-up for our 550K users.”

“We disagree with a five minute delay for bookings, as GPS technology enables operators to provide a better customer experience and reduce waiting times. Reduced waiting times benefit drivers and Londoners alike so TfL should be careful putting forward legislation that means everyone waits longer.

“If the genesis of the legislation is to reduce the number of minicab drivers on the road, then ultimately we would need each driver to complete more journeys, given the demand for their journeys is already there. Getting drivers to wait around unnecessarily, in this case for legislation’s sake, could defeat the purpose that the legislation is being designed for.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .