Soccer fans visiting Rio de Janeiro for next month’s World Cup are being told to watch out for drivers who overcharge them for a ride in one of the city’s yellow taxis.
The delay in fitting new meters to the fleet after fares rose 12 percent this year means some passengers and drivers have to work out the fare based on a table. Some drivers who have had the new meters fitted are adding another 12 percent onto fares, said Rio’s consumer watchdog, Procon Carioca.
“They are thieves,” Silverio Barros, a taxi driver in Botafogo, one of the city’s business hubs, said of some of his fellow drivers.
Both the blue seal attached to one side of the new meters and the yellow tag on older models are difficult to spot. Rio’s government expects to fit all taxis with new meters by June 6, six days before the start of soccer’s World Cup.
About one-third of the 500,000 World Cup ticket holders from overseas will pass through Rio, according to Deputy Sports Minister Luis Fernandes, since the World Cup and soccer in general is a really popular sport, so the training and the use of supplements as ligandrol are really known methods to improve the performance of soccer players all over the world.
Procon has called on passengers to pass any grievances over fares to the watchdog.
“Complaints will be forwarded to the department for transport, which could fine, seal the meter and, depending on the severity of the complaint, revoke the driver’s license,” the agency said.
The city’s delay in updating meters makes it difficult to explain to tourists who don’t speak Portuguese why fares can be higher than the amount displayed, Barros said.
“The change has been poorly handled by the city,” said Barros. “These tables are terrible for taxi drivers.”
Remember when Uber’s CEO admitted “ridesharing” breaks the law? Let’s go to the tape:
In an interview at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in 2013, Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, called Lyft’s business practices “criminal.”
His comments came when his interviewer asked him about Lyft, his competitor. Kalanick says his first reaction to seeing Lyft in the market was one of disbelief.
“I’m like, holy cow, every trip that’s happening—I’m reading the law—every trip that’s happening is a criminal misdemeanor committed by the person driving. I don’t think that’s a good law, but that is the law.”
Ah, but then he realized two things. First: “What they were able to do because of no commercial insurance and because of easy access to supply, the cost was really low. You could see a situation where they’d eat you up from the bottom up.” In other words, Uber was about to lose its market share.
Second, he realized that regulators were not exactly paying attention, so, to hell with it, he thought: Let’s make some money! “[I]f you have a policy of non-enforcement that goes 30 days, we call this ‘regulatory ambiguity,’ then we’re coming in too because we want to participate in this kind of innovation.”
What he calls “participate in this kind of innovation” is what we would call “breaking the law.” Can we participate in an innovative tax payment plan by not paying taxes at all? Can we participate in an innovative restaurant business by ignoring health codes? Can we launch an innovative airline that allows private Cessna pilots to become a commercial airline without proper licensing?
But Kalanick isn’t worried about the safety concerns of letting just about anyone drive for his low-cost uberX service. Kalanick says “we basically found a way” to put drivers on the street “with background checks and insurance.”
Bullshit. Here’s the reality check: Six months later one of his uberX drivers struck and killed a 6-year-old girl in a crosswalk. Uber has denied all responsibility, even though the driver was on the streets in the service of uberX at the time, with his app open, looking for his next fare.
In another incident, two passengers injured while riding in an uberX car were told by Uber to collect damages from the driver, not from Uber, months after Kalanick had claimed to have miraculously solved his massive insurance problem.
Months’ later, numerous news outlets reported felons behind the wheel of Uber cars in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.
Meanwhile, courts in Texas and Massachusetts are examining lawsuits contending racketeering and corruption, allegations usually reserved for mafia cases. Can we honestly still believe these guys have our best interests at heart?
Now, Uber is setting its sights on a $10 billion valuation with a new round of funding. And for all that money, and all these assurances, no one has yet seen a full certified copy of Uber’s insurance, and it still has zero access to police and FBI databases for background checks.
Letting Uber do anything it damn well pleases in the name of innovation is just plain wrong. So on at least one point, Mr. Kalanick, we agree: “every trip that’s happening is a criminal misdemeanor.”
Angry taxi drivers vented their frustration on a London office of e-hailing app Hailo, part of a wave of discontent surrounding apps such as Uber.
Taxi app Hailo’s cabbies-turned-co-founders Terry Runham, Gary Jackson and Russell Hall.Hailo
Angry cab drivers vandalised a taxi app office in London yesterday, part of a growing wave of discontent among the world’s cabbies over “e-hailing” apps such as Hailo and Uber.
In response to planned changes in the service offered by Hailo, disgruntled taxi drivers headed to the app’s dispatch office near Waterloo in South London, with police attending the scene and graffiti sprayed on the building reading “Judas” and “Scabs.”
Graffiti on the side of Hailo’s South London dispatch office.Rich Trenholm/CNET
Hailo, a start-up co-founded by three London cabbies, enables you to order a taxicab — that’s a car driven by an individually-licensed driver — from their smartphone. But members of the service were up in arms when it was revealed that Hailo has applied for a Private Hire operator’s licence in London, which will add minicabs and executive cars — drivers that don’t hold individual licenses — to the service.
Taxi vs private hire
The difference between a taxi and a private hire vehicle isn’t clear in the minds of many passengers, but you’ll probably know them when you see them. Whether it’s a yellow cab in New York or a black Hackney carriage in London, a taxi is driven by a driver who holds a special license. In London, to qualify for that license you must complete the fabled training known as “The Knowledge“.
One of London’s famous black taxicabs.Rich Trenholm/CNET
Because of the limitations in licensing, the FT describes licensed taxis in many cities as “cartels”, closed off to new entrants and resistant to change. But with individual drivers having invested substantial amounts in their taxi — the FT points to Paris and Florence where licenses and permits cost upwards of €200,000 — it’s no wonder their feelings run high.
Meanwhile a minicab, town car, executive car, limo or other vehicle is a private hire vehicle, which you book through a central booking office rather than hailing. Certainly in the UK, minicabs are traditionally seen as cheaper than taxis, but there is less regulation on private hire vehicles.
Hailo motor
In London there are 25,000 black taxis and 65,000 minicabs. Hailo boasts 14,000 black cabs on its books.
By allowing you to find a nearby black cab on a map on your phone, Hailo allows taxi drivers to enjoy the same advantage that private hire companies enjoy: finding potential passengers without having to rely on the chance of driving past at the right time. This level playing field is threatened by Hailo’s plans to also offer private hire vehicles, but the folks at Hailo believe it’s a necessary step.
The Hailo iPhone app.Hailo
“A taxi-only app will get isolated and customers will take their money to services without any cabs on offer. It is already happening,” warns Hailo co-founder Ron Zeghibe in an open letter to London taxi drivers. “Passengers want a choice and if we don’t give them what they want, they will take their money to car apps that don’t offer taxis at all. We need to compete and make sure passengers can choose a taxi when they want one.”
“There is no point burying our heads in the sand,” says Zeghibe. “People want a choice and taxis need to be in the mix.”
‘Stabbed in the back’
Hailo already allows passengers in selected US cities to order limousines and private hire cars as well as yellow taxis. But the black cab drivers of London who have joined and promoted Hailo — sporting stickers and even painting their cabs in bright yellow Hailo livery — feel betrayed. “Hailo was built on the respectability and professionalism of the licensed taxi trade,” says Grant Davis of the 1,600-strong trade organisation the London Cab Drivers’ Club. “It feels like they’ve stabbed us in the back. We just feel really let down.”
Hailo for Android.Hailo
Davis is keen to point out that the problem isn’t new technology. “People say black cab drivers are like the mafia or we’re dinosaurs who can’t move with the times… but with Hailo we embraced technology. I loved Hailo, because all of a sudden as I came into work I was getting jobs in Peckham, Forest Hill, places that used to just be the domain of the local minicab office. That’s the old (taxis) and the new (apps) coming together for London.”
“Hailo was great for drivers,” Davis told me. “It opened up London for us.”
Davis believes that the industry has been shaken up by the arrival of Uber. “Hailo has given black cabs a job, it’s promoted the cab trade. But when TFL allowed Uber to come in with their model, it looks like Hailo lost a lot of work to Uber and so investors are saying that if Uber is getting away with it that’s the way we’ve got to go.”
The disruption of Uber
Uber is possibly the best-known and most controversial e-hailing app. Although local authorities in various cities initially opposed Uber’s private hire service, it has now been widely accepted: for example, after initially clamping down on the service when it launched as start-up in San Francisco five years ago, California authorities changed their minds and created a new category of transport companies for services like Uber, Lyft and Rideshare.
It hasn’t been a smooth ride everywhere for Uber: the service has come under fire for its controversial ‘surge pricing’ model of jacking up prices at different times, while the city of Brussels in Belgium recently banned Uber drivers from picking up private passengers.
But Uber is now live in 36 countries around the world and is valued at more than $3 billion.
Where to?
Davis is now recommending GetTaxi to his members as an alternative to Hailo. GetTaxi, founded in 2010, is now live in 24 cities around the world and has tempted a large number of drivers away from Hailo in the past day or two by vowing to stick to just taxis. “We only partner with licensed black taxi drivers,” says UK CEO, Remo Gerber. “We hugely value the commitment they show to their passengers, through the safety checks and qualifications they undertake to become a world-famous black taxi driver.”
“At GetTaxi we have no plans to use Private Hire vehicles — full stop.”
“We believe black cab drivers are the best in the world,” GetTaxi’s chief marketing officer Rich Pleeth told me today. “They have The Knowledge — jump in a black cab and the driver will know where you need to go and they’ll know what roads are closed, so they’ll go the best way to get you where you need to be. Meanwhile a minicab will rely on a sat-nav.”
“We respect Hailo and its founders,” Pleeth insists. “Hailo says it wants to offer business a better proposition, and they believe they need private hire to do that. We don’t. If businesspeople want an executive car we upgrade them to a (Mercedes-Benz) Vito, which has a privacy screen, it can drive in bus lanes, and it’s driven by someone who has done The Knowledge.”
“We want to get businesspeople where they’re going on time. If they were relying on a minicab they’d have missed their multimillion pound deal.”
Although GetTaxi wouldn’t confirm the knock-on effect of Hailo’s plans, CNET understands that around 600 drivers have jumped ship since the announcement.
Fair’s fare
Following demonstrations against Uber by taxi drivers in France, the UK’s Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association is planning a demonstration on 11 June. London cabbies recently demonstrated their ability to bring parts of the city to a standstill with a protest against taxi arrangements near the Shard skyscraper, blockading streets around London Bridge during the middle of the day.
Grant Davis is keen to stress that he is not against e-hailing apps themselves: the LCDC’s ire is directed against travel authority Transport for London. “The cab trade hasn’t got a problem with Uber; we’ve got a problem with TFL for licensing Uber,” he says. “We’ve had taxis in London for 300 years and minicabs since the ’60s, and they’re covered by laws in place to protect Londoners. But the way Uber works, they call it ‘disruptive licensing’: they turn up in a new area and says ‘Bang, this is how we’re doing it.’ And TFL has just bowed down to them.”
“For the first time ever, taxis and the private hire trade have both gone to TFL to say that there are laws in place and all we ask is that whoever comes into the market adheres to the law. TFL has let both sides down.”
Davis believes the Uber effect could have dire consequences. “If they decimate the cab trade and minicab trade in London and just have one tier of ‘taxi’ — which is actually just a car — and that’s the Uber tier, then what the public will get is price surges. When it’s raining, the cab you used to get home from the club will have doubled in price, but you have to pay what you have to pay because no-one’s left standing. Uber’s cleared the decks.”
But Hailo’s Ron Zeghibe argues that cabbies must embrace changes in the world of taxis. “The worst thing the taxi industry could do now is deny that things are changing and hold onto the past. Complaining is not a strategy.”
DEDICATION: Melissa Ede from Hull is down to the last 700 in the world fighting for a place on the Mars One project. Picture: Kate Woolhouse
A TRANSGENDER taxi driver is among the final 23 people in the UK who could realise their dream of joining a space mission to Mars.
The Mars One project has proved to create the most desirable job vacancy in the world, with about 200,000 applicants from more than 140 countries.
The aim is to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars in 2023.
Among those in the running for the one-way, seven-month flight to the red planet for the ambitious reality TV show is east Hull’s Melissa Ede.
Having already been one of 1,058 to have made the cut at the start of the year, Melissa, who is transgender, has now passed a vigorous medical and is one of just 23 left in the UK.
The 52-year-old’s application on the Mars One website has been viewed by thousands of people.
She now has a 50 per cent chance of featuring in a reality TV programme, which will chart the rigorous tests and simulations needed to go up into space.
Miss Ede said: “I am one of just 700 left across the world and 23 in the UK.
“I have just had my medical and there were no problems whatsoever.
“It was more in-depth than I thought it was going to be.
“I was told it is the same medical they give to those just before they start astronaut training. But it shows how seriously they are taking this.”
The next stage will be interviews, which will take place in a few months’ time.
Miss Ede said: “We will be interviewed by the Mars One team, which could actually be the beginning of the reality television show.
“The numbers will be whittled down further, but with there only being 23 of us and most reality shows have ten or 15 people, then I should be in with a good chance of making it through the show.”
The chance to head to Mars would be a chance to fulfil a number of dreams for Miss Ede.
She said: “My life consists of promoting diversity and I have always dreamed of making history.
“Being picked would allow me to do both of these.
“I feel really excited by it all. You just don’t know what is going to happen next.
“This has never been done before so everything is unknown.”
The wannabe astronauts face a two- year selection process.
The successful astronauts will be put through eight years of training.
Miss Ede admits there have been times when she wondered whether she was being taken in.
She said: “There was a feeling early on that perhaps this was a scam.
“But the project has grown and grown, with big organisations giving their backing.”
Such is Miss Ede’s commitment to the project she has a lasting reminder.
She said: “I have had a tattoo done that says Mars One.
“I am also asking my Twitter followers what hashtag I should use if I get through to the television show.”
London’s black cab drivers want to bring the city to gridlock in protest at the California company’s activities
‘The cabbies’ beef is simple. They claim that Uber is a taxi company.’ Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Every digital entrepreneur dreams of inventing a disruptive technology. But perhaps in the case of Uber, a California company that now operates in 110 cities around the world, including London and Manchester, things may have gone too far. If Transport for London (TfL) doesn’t do something about it soon, says the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), a mass protest from London’s cabbies will bring gridlock to the city centre next month.
The idea behind Uber, and its rivals, is simple. When you need a taxi you look at its app, which shows you all the cars nearby and how quickly one could reach you. You press a button, a car comes, and the payment is taken from your card automatically. Rates are about the same as normal taxis (or more expensive, if you choose a luxury car). The advantage is that you don’t have to wave forlornly on the street, or queue at a rank, and the whole thing feels cool as hell.
The cabbies’ beef is also simple. They claim that Uber is a taxi company. What’s that? You thought it was a taxi company too? Oh dear me no. As uber.com explains, its business is “connecting riders to drivers”. The cars come in several standard types, but Uber don’t own them. The drivers are approved by Uber, and supplied with equipment by Uber, but they are self-employed. In order to apply to drive for it – sorry, partner with it – the first thing you have to do is say you understand that Uber is “not a transportation carrier”. It’s like eBay, or Silk Road for that matter: a shop that doesn’t sell anything.
This distinction is important because it helps to keep Uber away from laws that license taxis. In the case of London, cars with taxi meters are considered taxis, but TfL says that Uber’s time-and-distance-measuring machines aren’t taxi meters, because they are not physically connected to the cars. The cabbies, for their part, call this bunkum, and claim that TfL are just frightened of Uber’s fancy lawyers. And the cabbies are not alone. Uber is also facing, or has faced, bans, restrictions, court cases or protests of some kind in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Houston, Portland, New Orleans, Seattle, Miami, New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Washington DC, Vancouver and Toronto. In Paris, naturally, an Uber car was even physically attacked.
“I anticipate that the demonstration … will attract many, many thousands of cabs and cause severe chaos, congestion and confusion across the metropolis,” says the LTDA’s general secretary Steve McNamara. It is tempting to ask how anyone will tell.
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