Uber and consumer choice in London | Hacker News Reader

Uber and consumer choice in London

blog.uber.com

13 pointsedward14 comments

We are bringing competition to an industry that hasn’t evolved in years.

Hailo launched a good six months before Uber in London, and seems to have done so by working with industry and regulators, rather than by skirting around the law.

As per the regulations, cars using the Uber platform do not have a taximeter – TFL have confirmed that smart phones used by private hire drivers do not constitute the equipping of a vehicle with a taximeter.

This is technically correct, and it's why London hasn't acted against Uber. They're not breaking any laws at this point.

However, the use of smartphones in this fashion provides the same functionality as a taximeter. There's no denying that; the letter of the law may be followed, but the spirit is clearly being violated. And that's why black cab drivers in London are upset.

I wish Uber all the best - it's good to have some competition in this space. But I can also see why the LTDA(?) would be annoyed by this - they're essentially evading regulations in a pretty direct manner, and in their place I'd be pissed off too.

Evading regulations is the whole business model of companies like Uber and AirBnB.

That's not true. Uber is ahead on some basic features like being able to track the progress of the approaching car and seeing the driver's photo on your smartphone. Also, I think they still provide drivers with rates that increase when demand rises. So they compete by providing better perks for both drivers and riders.

The most interesting part of this is that the regulations were ostensibly instituted to protect the public from a parade of horribles; but the public seems to like the 'dangerous' service.

There's a difference between "like" and "accept the risk of".

I would never have used airbnb or Uber (and the like) if I hadn't heard good things about the services from my friends. Plus, these services offer me something that "legit" ones don't. Sometimes I can't get a cab, or get refused service. Sometimes it's cheaper to rent a whole house rather than enough hotel rooms for a large family...

Look, there's times when I was in a black (or yellow) taxi and didn't feel safe. Just because regulations are in place, that doesn't mean the public is always safe. Regulators aren't always watching, nor are they always straight.

This is in response to a proposed strike by London "Black Cabs" which are licensed to be hailed. I think they are a little worried as Uber is nearly as quick as hailing and much quicker than getting a cab through a private hire company (sometimes called minicabs) which are booked through usually calling a central operator who then dispatches the cab.

http://www.ltda.co.uk/campaigns/planned-taxi-demonstration/

I fail to see how striking is going to help their cause.

The traffic chaos during their demonstration will be similar to the one we will experience everyday if uber grows unregulated.

I fail to see how uber's growth will cause traffic chaos.

From where I'm standing it seems that the "traffic chaos" is being brought about by the cab drivers, not by Uber...

How so?

There are about 20000 black cabs in London which make abrupt pull overs, ridiculous u-turns and blocking lanes 2 mins at a time. Luckily London drivers are familiar with how they look and can prepare ahead for erratic behaviour.

Imagine there are 100000 of them, effectively under camouflage.

Whilst I a massive fan of Uber, and I think they provide a good "taxi experience" I have to wonder why they are bothering with London.

What do they hope to disrupt in London, the transport infrastructure is phenomenal, with the private car hire business (be it black cabs, minicabs, addison lee ...) being an extremely well serviced and competitive space.

Wouldn't Uber be better off of focusing in places where the market for private cars is more nascent ?

Gotta love the way they stress safety as a selling point even after all the stories about how they lie about safety.

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