scrubbedexpat141

I can't be the only one who doesn't really care?

I mean, if Uber offers a cheaper alternative then people will want that as an option to select, why block it? I got a black cab to the car hire place from Heathrow and it was £11 or £14 or something horrific to do 1.3miles. That's hard to justify.

I respect the knowledge and the phenomenal amount of learning it takes....however, if Johnny Nobody can download an app with a map, he can do EXACTLY the same thing. It's like teaching - kids don't need to learn the exact date of the Normandy beach landings or the fire of London. They learn how to google it and how to talk about it.

Black cab drivers need to adapt to 'survive' properly.
Uber may well be a scummy company but it's not going to stop people using a cheaper alternative where the opportunity cost is nostalgia / / refusal to go somewhere / shortcut knowledge / opinions on current affairs etc.

IKnowNothing

I know it's the fail, but they do make some good points about disruptive technology -v- The State knows best.... Fail

DXBtoDOH

Yeah, we haven't had a proper Brexit discussion on here lately.

The EU's going to bitchslap May and smack down every single concession, aren't they? It's going to be the hardest of the hard Brexit. Will probably take six more months to this to become crystal clear although the signs are already there.

al dente

I am still irritated by the black cab at LHR, who was on the phone while i loaded my three kids and the luggage for a month's stay before refusing to take me to Esher as he only wanted fares into London. I didn't fight it (see kids above) who wants to be stuck for 25 minutes with a wanker, after you win an argument. However, I did have a serious chat with the queue manager about the fact that he was a ****ing taxi at an international airport. An airport where all the public transport runs into central london. Surely the odds of passengers getting in wh didn't want to get into London where quite high.

The next guy took me, and was a real gent and a laugh, and didn't charge me the set fare of £95, only £75. Even though that is still steep for 30 minutes.

Boomhauer

Reportedly New York City has/had the same issues with the Yellow cabs: lots of prick yellow cab drivers, so Uber and the like were welcomed by patrons.

To drive a cab in NYC you have to buy a Medallion sold by the city, who deliberately restricts the number they issue , so the resale cost is astronomical. It used to cost as high as $1million for a single Medallion but since Uber and the like, the cost has come down by more than half.

nonthaburi

More progressive drivers like this one are needed.

nonthaburi

or this one

jam25mack

Have used Uber a lot. Here in the UAE, in the UK in Manchester and in the US in Miami. All in all I've not had a bad experience, or any worse than I have had with a black hack.

I echo Scamps comments regarding the knowledge etc. It's now not really a big issue. Whack google maps on and you're away.

The cost of black cabs is, however, shocking.

Arnold S

The cost of a black cab is expensive but drivers have to recoup the cost/hire of the cabs, it's not just about the knowledge. Also, everything is bloody expensive in London, it's been a few years but are we up to 10 quid a pint yet outside of a 'Spoons? And you're not going to get a mobility scooter in the back of a Uber either.

Finally, it's all hunky dory now but once Uber successfully deflates the market, drives minicabs and hackneys out of business and gain the monopoly they'll be ramping those prices straight back up there. Using infrastructure that can apply surcharges in seconds, as we've seen during rush hours, big events at Wembley and during terrorist attacks.

uk_grenada

Yeah, all in favour of black diesel dinosaurs, the hybrid cars favoured by uber drivers are just so passe... As you prefer 10 pound pints im sure you can afford to subsidise the lifestyles of black cab drivers, but i’ll go with a 4 pound pint of fullers london ales thanks, and a cheap uber drive back. Incidentally uber will never replace minicabs, minicabs are actually cheaper than uber in places, and as a minicab driver told me - he couldnt get a job with uber, he failed the vetting process...

scrubbedexpat141

I like black cabs, there will always be a need for them. Tourists love them, They can be instant and don't require any booking / finding, you just jump in and go.

I think mini-cabs / pre-booked should be the sub-sector that's worried.

uk_grenada

The main problem apart frim price and attitude is that there are actually very few black cabs to be seen outside tourist central and the business /monied part of town. Uber is for most a far more available instant jump in service.

scrubbedexpat141

Probably, I don't know so I'll take your word for it.

I don't really give a monkeys either way. I feel like black cab drivers are pretty whiny, Uber are a pretty shitty and the public just want cheaper, available cars....so are going to use Uber irrespective of accurate and perceived lack of moral / ethical grounding....even if the irony of the archetypal anti-everything-and-everyone-else black cab driver is lost on so many.

DXBtoDOH

Makes one wonder what will be the first major hotel chain to go under due to AirBnB.

We really are returning back to 19th century economy, aren't we? Where most travellers stayed at private lodging houses and took rooms in a private house. It's amazing.

scrubbedexpat141

I dunno, I haven't ever used AirBnB and am unlikely to...