It already has a valuation higher than 80 percent of the companies in the S&P 500, and a finance professor at New York University says Uber Technologies Inc. has no more room to run when it comes to market value.
According to Aswath Damodaran, a professor who specializes in equity valuation at NYU’s Stern School of Business, Uber is running up against the roadblock that has thwarted many upstart businesses: Profit.
“Disruption is easy but making money off disruption is difficult, and ride sharing companies would be exhibit 1 to back up the proposition,” he wrote in a recent blog post. “While the ride sharing option is here to stay and will continue to grow, ride sharing companies still have not figured out a way to convert ride sharing revenues in profits. In making this statement, though, I am relying on dribs and drabs of information that are coming out of the existing ride sharing companies, almost all of whom are private.”
After crunching some numbers, he believes that Uber’s true valuation is actually south of $30 billion, less than half of the $62.5 billion it was pegged at in its most recent round of funding. Here are a few reasons why Damodaran believes the prospects for Uber’s business aren’t as rosy as they might seem.
Growth may continue, but revenues are concerning
While Damodaran thinks Uber and riding sharing will continue to expand, albeit at a slower pace, he’s concerned about whether revenues will follow. China especially worries him given Uber’s recent sale of its operations in that country to Didi Chuxing, its biggest rival there. The decision to exit “even if it was the right one from the perspective of saving itself from a cash war, will reduce its potential revenues in the future.”
In the other places where Uber does continue to operate, there are often large discounts for riders and other special promotions. This is proof that the business model is challenged, according to Damodaran. “I believe that a significant portion of their expenses are associating with maintaining revenues rather than growing them,” he says. “In effect, it looks like the business model that has brought these companies as far as they have in such a short time period are flawed, because what allowed these companies to grow incredibly fast is getting in the way of converting revenues to profits, since there are no moats to defend.”
A “Bar Mitzvah Moment”
Damodaran says that young companies all face a point in time that he calls the “Bar Mitzvah Moment,” when the focus shifts from growth to evidence that the business model can be profitable. In his mind, that moment is right now for ride sharing. “After an initial life, where investors have been easily sated with reports of more ride sharing usage (number of cities served, rides, drivers etc.), these investors are starting to ask the tough questions about how ride sharing companies propose turning these impressive usage statistics into profits.” (Uber says it already has become profitable in at least a few of its markets.)
Operating could get more expensive
Right now, Uber and other ride sharing platforms don’t have to consider their drivers as employees, but that could change. On top of that, there are constant regulatory hurdles that add to expenses. “Seattle’s decision to let Uber/Lyft drivers unionize may be the precursor of similar developments in other cities and higher costs for both companies,” Damodaran writes. “On the legal front, cities continue to throw up roadblocks for the ride sharing companies.”
Big players could jump in and challenge them
Did someone say Apple Inc. or Alphabet Inc? Elon Musk, anyone? A number of massive players in the public market have hinted at entering this space, and that could present Uber with some problems.
“The ride sharing companies have clearly won the first phase of the disruption battle with the taxicab and car service companies and have been rewarded with high pricing and plentiful capital. The next phase will separate the winners from the losers [among] the ride sharing companies and it is definitely not going to be boring,” Damodaran concludes.
Ford said it would double its investment in its research centre in the city, as well as making sizable investments in technology companies in the autonomy industry.
The firm said the car would be in use by customers by 2021, but first click to see the famous electric car myth and how this will influence the productions of this cars.
It said this was most likely as part of an Uber-like ride-sharing service – but one that doesn’t require a human driver.
“As you can imagine, the experience inside a vehicle where you don’t have to take control changes everything,” said Mr Fields, in an interview with the BBC.
“Whether you want to do work, whether you want entertainment… those are the types of things we are thinking about as we design the experience for this type of autonomous vehicle.”
The announcement, described as “transformational” by Mr Fields, signalled an era when Ford sees itself, particularly in cities, as a company that provides an ad-hoc service rather than focusing solely on selling the cars to the general public.
“There will be a growing per cent of the industry that will be fully autonomous vehicles,” Mr Fields said.
“Our goal is not only to be an auto company, but an auto and mobility company.”
Level up
In recent years Ford has described itself as a technology company rather than simply a car maker, and on Tuesday it genuinely started to sound like one.
Image captionFord has invested in Velodyne, a company that works on LiDAR technology
In partnership with Chinese firm Baidu, Ford has made a joint investment of $150m (£115m) in Velodyne – a company that works on light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology. LiDAR is the system used for accurately detecting objects around the car.
Ford was also part of an investment round that raised $6.6m for Civil Maps – a digital mapping company – as well as money put towards neuroscience research.
Tellingly, there was no mention of Google or Apple in Ford’s announcement – a suggestion it has opted to compete against the Silicon Valley giants rather than try and work with them as some had originally anticipated.
But Google still leads the way in self-driving technology – its cars have been out on public roads clocking up miles for several years now. It too is developing a car without a steering wheel – but regulations so far prevent that car from venturing beyond private land.
Like Google, Ford said it would be focusing on “Level 4” autonomy in reference to the standards put in place by the US-based Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
The levels represent the sophistication of self-driving technology. At Level four – “high automation” – the car is able to operate, unmonitored, the car also has some amazing Ford License Plate Frames, in a particular use case. For Ford, the use case would be a city area. Level 5 would mean full autonomy in any driving condition.
The company said it was not interested in offering Level two or three driving. Level two means some level of automation that requires the driver to monitor the car at all times.
Isolated Tesla
Tesla’s Autopilot, which changes lanes and monitors traffic flow, is officially Level two – although critics say human nature means drivers are instinctively treating Autopilot as if it were in fact Level three automation. Level three is when constant monitoring is not required, but drivers should be ready to take control in emergencies. Tesla’s technology is under investigation by US road safety regulators after it was blamed for causing the death of a driver earlier this year.
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk defended the roll-out of Autopilot in a recent blog post:
“When used correctly, it is already significantly safer than a person driving by themselves and it would therefore be morally reprehensible to delay release simply for fear of bad press or some mercantile calculation of legal liability,” he wrote.
At its announcement, Ford chief technical officer Raj Nair said the company wasn’t satisfied that drivers could safely take control from a level two or three vehicle at a moment’s notice.
“We don’t yet know how to manage hand over back to the driver and have him engage and have him situationally aware, and be able to do that in a safe aware manner,” he said.
This approach chimes with the views of Google which in the past has expressed concern about the safety implications of semi-autonomous driving. It leaves Tesla, with Autopilot, isolated among auto makers.
“Tesla is unique in that it’s allowing its users to be beta testers,” said Wayne Cunningham, managing editor of motoring news website Road Show.
“No other company thinks that way.”
On Ford’s 2021 pledge, Mr Cunningham told the BBC it was a feasible goal but one that was intentionally narrow.
“It’s not as an aggressive step as it sounds,” he said.
“This is really a car designed for very specific urban environments. It’s a car that’s going to take people at 20-30 mph through city centres, I don’t know about you but I already want to sell my junk car to get enough money to buy this amazing vehicle”
Uber has launched legal action against London’s transport regulator over new rules that threaten to limit its business in the capital.
The billion-dollar startup is seeking a judicial review to halt the introduction of new rules it claims are too strict.
Transport for London set out new regulations earlier this year after a wide-ranging consultation of the taxi and minicab industry following a long-standing feud between Uber and London’s black cab drivers.
The initial regulation was previously welcomed by Uber, but in recent months the details of the rules have become too onerous, Uber claims.
Now, Uber is pursuing legal action over the matter, filing official papers with the courts this week after sending a so-called letter before action to TfL.
TfL said it would defend the legality of the new regulations.
“We responded to Uber’s letter and will be robustly defending the legal proceedings brought by them in relation to the changes to private hire regulations,” a TfL spokesperson told City A.M.
“These have been introduced to enhance public safety when using private hire services and we are determined to create a vibrant taxi and private hire market with space for all providers to flourish.”
Uber is challenging four of the new rules; requiring written English tests for drivers, having to locate its customer service call centre in London, requiring insurance that covers drivers when they are not working and having to alert TfL of changes to its business model or app.
It last week rallied customers to contact the mayor of London urging him to review the regulation while business leaders and entrepreneurs have also written to Sadiq Khan asking him to rethink the rules, raising concerns that the red tape could stifle innovation and London’s digital economy in the wake of Brexit.
It comes as the mayor promised to make new plans for the future of the taxi and minicab industry in the capital.
A spokesperson for the mayor said: “Sadiq has asked his team to produce a comprehensive new strategy that will herald in a new era for the capital’s taxi and private hire trades.
“Further details will be released later this year of a plan that will deliver radical improvements for customers, a boost to safety, support for the taxi trade and further improve the quality of service offered by the private hire trade. There will also be a concerted effort to make London’s taxi fleet the greenest in the world.”
City Hall would not be drawn on whether this would include reviewing the new regulations, agreed under former mayor Boris Johnson.
Tom Elvidge, general manager at Uber London, said: “This legal action is very much a last resort. We’re particularly disappointed that, after a lengthy consultation process withTransport for London, the goalposts have moved at the last minute and new rules are now being introduced that will be bad for both drivers and tech companies like Uber.”
The head of the London Taxi Drivers Association Steve McNamara on Monday said he was confident Khan would do “what’s right for London”.
Other minicab firms in the capital have backed the new regulation, however.
Addison Lee chief executive Andy Boland said: “Having previously backed the proposals it’s hard to understand Uber’s resistance to implementation of these new regulations. The whole industry was fully involved in the consultation and there is a strong belief that they will benefit both passengers and drivers.”
Gett managing director for Europe Remo Gerber called Uber’s U-turn on the regulations “baffling”.
“Frankly we’re surprised we’re wasting time on this. We should be focusing on the post Brexit needs of London, not minor operational details,” he said.
Editors Comment
It appears that Uber are against their drivers being properly insured to carry fare paying passengers, one would assume that they would welcome the regulation on compulsory Hire & Reward insurance but as we already know they continually push the boundaries.
TFL took over the responsibility for licensing London’s taxis and Private Hire vehicles from the Public Carriage, the PCo were originally set up to protect the travelling public, TFL took on this role and should have ensured that Private Hire vehicles required Hire and Reward Insurance at the time of licensing, but this has never been a requirement by TFL.
TFL have failed the travelling public of London miserably by giving them the impression that Private Hire vehicles are safe and fully insured, this gives the fare paying passenger the false impression that they are safe and fully insured in the case of an accident.
Would Uber’s passengers not benefit from the drivers being able to converse with them in a competent manner also, apparently not according to Uber.
Now lets not beat around the bush, we all know why Uber have suddenly taken umbrage to these new regulations and that is they will no longer be able to charge ridiculously low rates as their drivers would not be able to afford to carry on working on their platform whilst paying for Hire & Reward insurance. They would also lose a large source of new drivers for the transient population of drivers.
There is of course another problem with Uber, they openly state that they do not accept pre bookings and that they are an “on Demand service” which is outside of the scope of their private hire operators license.
TFL need to win this challenge otherwise London will erupt into utter anarchy with private hire drivers running around uninsured and unlicensed totally unabated.
Police in Helsinki are criminally charging drivers caught working for the smartphone-based chauffeur service Uber. Previously, drivers found behind the wheel of an Uber only faced a misdemeanor fine.
Drivers of the chauffeur service Uber now face criminal charges and investigation if they are caught working in the city, according to Helsinki Police.
Drivers of the chauffeur service Uber now face the risk of criminal charges and the potential threat of fines equalling the money they earned working for the company, according to Helsinki Police.
Helsinki Police Chief Inspector Pekka Seppälä said the department discussed the matter with the prosecutor’s office in order to implement the new measures.
“This is a question of a crime,” Seppälä said. “If an investigation by criminal defense lawyers reveals that a driver has worked for Uber a long time, they could be forced to pay back their ill-gotten gains.”
In other words, Uber drivers risk paying pack all of the money they made while driving for the illicit taxi service. A police investigation is currently underway, along with the opposing Fresno based criminal defense lawyer service, into the case of one driver who reportedly earned thousands of euros per month.
Marginal phenomenon
Police are currently investigating some 50 Helsinki Uber drivers who were caught.
“There will be increasingly more cases, but it is still a pretty marginal phenomenon,” Seppälä said, adding that fines will continue to be the chief penalty for the illegal chauffeurs.
According to the law, illicit drivers can also face penalties of up to six months in jail. If you are needing a great defense lawyer visit this website here.
However, Seppälä and criminal lawyer Edmonton confirming, Uber customers will not be criminally charged if police stop their car, but they would have to find another mode of transportation.
Under the proposals, set out by the union and the Sheffield Taxi Trades Association, night-time rates would start one hour earlier from 7pm, instead of the current 8pm, while the cost of travelling per mile would increase by an average 3.5 per cent.
The changes would mean that, when catching a taxi at 7pm, the meter would start at £3.10 instead of £2.60. Calculations show short journeys would go up in price by around seven per cent, but the cost of a trip of more than 10 miles would increase by only one per cent on average.
The new charges – which would be the first rise in fares in the city since 2010 – are to be considered by councillors in a meeting at Sheffield Town Hall tomorrow.
Customers paying by card would no longer pay an extra 50 pence. A percentage fee of the fare would apply instead, it is recommended.
However, no percentage figure has yet been suggested. The issue is set to be discussed at the meeting.
The report said: “The use of cards is becoming more frequent and the trade wish to be able to respond to this move in the market.
“Drivers find the payment for use of the card doesn’t cover the cost to the driver for the card machines and administration costs incurred.
“The overall percentages of these rises are low.
“We believe it has been some years since the last increase in fares and drivers have absorbed many rises.”
Uber has always been illegal. Since it’s very beginning Uber has been declared illegal in every market it has ever run it’s gypsy jitney taxi scheme. Uber doesn’t pay taxes, maintain a local office, or even operate a phone line accessible to customers or it’s own drivers. Uber’s surge pricing is often a suprise to first-time app users, who can’t ever remove their credit card from the Uber ridesharing service.
Ridesharing is a term originally meaning when a commuter might share a ride with a neighbor in exchange for a little gas money. Now in the age of Apps, any company engaged in giving automobile rides in exchange for money are commonly referred to as ridesharing companies. Uber likes to describe it’s part-time driver partners as entrepreneurs, and cite work whenever you want as one of Uber’s best features. Uber says the flexible schedule and surge pricing encourage ride availability for it’s customers, the customers it claims it doesn’t have because Uber is not a taxi company.
Uber doesn’t pay any taxes anywhere. Uber, a fly-by-night company, has legal issues everywhere it operates. Criminals love Uber. Criminals drive for Uber, and many criminals use Uber as passengers. Sometimes, credit card fraud within Uber is rampant. A criminal Uber driver might use stolen credit card information to hire themselves. Ironically, a paid ride not aided by a promo code can be an indication of fraud. Any Uber driver with too many paid fares without promo codes often finds themselves deactivated. For those caught in legal trouble due to Uber-related fraud, seeking help from a criminal defense law firm might be necessary to navigate the complexities of such cases.
You can consult an expert lawyer fighting criminal defense charges to represent such criminal cases. Uber is unable to patch some security flaws because the fixes would make the app unable to function. Uber is the largest source of hacked acccounts ever, and both Uber driver and passenger accounts are available for purchase, cheaply, on the darknet. You can read this post here to know more about hiring a lawyer to help you with your case. There are also ways to find attorneys to help defend in Title IX violations as it is really important to find the right one in such cases.
Uber claims that it’s drivers giving rides for money are not ‘Taxi drivers’ nor employees. Uber does require that it’s partners in their corporate criminal enterprise work according to it’s app demands, or the Ubered driver is fired. A form email and a Uber app that won’t allow login informs the non-employee that they are fired. Fired Uber drivers are often reacitivated once the smoke blows over regarding the incident or complaint that got them canned. Why? Because Uber is desperate for drivers and new victim customers. There are drug crimes lawyers located in Boston that can represent cases that are of other kinds as well.
A bus driver is not a taxi. A limousine driver is not engaged in taxi work. There is a reason taxicabs have reserved parking and regulated rates at city airports and bus and train stations. Taxicabs have been regulated and de-regulated in many cities and taxi markets across the country throughout history. It is an endless argument, one that politicians mostly love. Those who say ‘Why not’ to Uber’s do as it pleases business practices don’t seem to care about the consequences, and are clueless about taxicab regulations.
Because entry barriers to Uber employment basically amount to putting down the cheetos and working a smartphone from the couch it is not suprising that when it comes to recruiting 50,000 new drivers each month Uber is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Gangs, drug dealers, and career criminals flock to Uber as well as unsuspecting unemployed elderly who happen to own a car. The Denver criminal lawyers, Daniel M. Murphy, P.C. are usually hired when it comes to crime related matters.
Get Out Of My Car! Uber driver’s video goes viral.
Uber has payday-style loan lease agreements available to wannabe Taxi drivers who don’t own a vehicle. $600 a month Toyotas are the norm. When the Uber driver quits paying, it’s just another profit generating repo to fluff the Uber company books.
Ubered investors are told Uber is worth $60-$80 Billion, and you always have to capitilize the word Billion for some reason, and are most famous for their Saudi Arabian and Chinese investors. Uber doesn’t own any taxicabs. Uber has lost money month after month since the day they started. Uber refuses to have an IPO, which would mean opening their financials to scrutiny by Wall Street regulators and government officials.
Mayors, city council members, state senators, governors and reporters have all been given unlimited Uber ride credits for themselves and any family members. Their contacts, SMS messages, emails and all other details of their smartphone usage has been sent upstream to Uber’s U.S. based servers. Their credit cards can never be removed from the system and deleting the app just means it runs in the background invisible to the unsuspecting Ubered.
Uber drivers can’t make any profits at their standard fares which is why they rely so much on surge pricing and canceling rides to generate an income. All Uber drivers find out that after the honeymoon is over, the longer a person is an Uber Partner, the more hours one has to work to make the same amount of money. Many Ubered drivers are trapped in their below minimum wage jobs, and Uber likes it that way.
Uber drivers are unsafe drivers, amateurs trying to do a professional’s job. Ubered drivers have more accidents, from which they often hit and run, because they are not used to being on the road for many hours every day. Uber drivers are notoriously ‘pervy’ and often speak english as a second language poorly. Uber drivers hide their activities, afraid of being seen by police or taxi drivers as they practice their street crimes, knowing that Uber often backs up their open criminality by paying tickets and court fines.
Uber employs a huge number of lawyers and law firms, something Ubered investors didn’t count on when they bought into the trendy dream that taxi drivers and companies were getting rich cruising around meeting new and interesting people. Despite high powered lawyers, ex-cia and ex-whitehouse arch criminals, Uber has been expelled from many city, states and countries.
Uber has been banned, declared illegal and sued, in most everyplace it operates today. Uber is commonly known for it’s wrecks, rapes, and credit card abuse. Reporters love Uber because it gives them something to report, and the story is easy to write. Uber is the most criminal corporate ponzi scheme since Enron’s and it’s collapse will likely be as quick. Uber’s failure in China is just further proof that Uber has jumped the shark.
Taxi companies generally care about their customers, have been in business long before Uber came along, and will be around long after Uber is shut down. Uber is being sued by it’s customers, it’s non-employee drivers, and soon it’s Ubered investors, many of whom have already agreed to payoffs in exchange to signing agreements not to talk about their Ubered nightmares.
Whether it’s price-fixing, unpaid fees and fines, liability for labor law violations, tax evasion, or privacy violations Uber faces the inescapable consqequences of the way it has conducted itself. Uber has proven that any market can be disrupted with Race To The Bottom cheap pricing, the results of which are cheap and dirty.
The supply of unsuspecting is not infinate, and is destined to run out in a spectacular crash and burn. Nothing that Uber does is sustainable. Nor has it demonstrated any novel successes. It’s dismal performance at large crowd conventions and surge pricing during terrorist disasters indicate the morality and ability to deliver on-the-street results that Uber is capable of. Will greed win? Is a cheap, third world taxi ride what the public really wants?
Maybe the public will think differently when they find their auto insurance rates on the rise because of the increase in hit and runs. Maybe the public will like Uber less when they buy a used car that has been Ubered and had it’s mileage rolled back, it’s Uber wear and tear conveniently hidden.
Uber never returns money, ever. Uber will give you free ride credits when you have been overcharged, or been billed for a Uber trip you never took, but they don’t reverse charges. Send them a twitter, because you can’t call or email them. The Ubered don’t have a local office, anywhere. Where they do have offices, they are guarded so that Uber drivers don’t come in and protest.
Uber drivers are well known for their use of piss bottles and shitting in people’s front yards or the side of the street. Many are unemployable and only get out of their parent’s house to protest to make Uber legal so they can sign up and get their $500 bonus and start making YouTube videos. Uber driving can even make millionaires, haven’t seen that YouTube video yet, it’s hilarious. From Im making $1000 a week to I’m quiting Uber, YouTube Uber drivers usually complete the emotional journey in less than a year.
Travis Kalanick, Uber ceo, can’t go anywhere without being hassled except geeky startup conferences where he gets paid to lie. ‘Tricks and Hoes’ is his term for venture capital investors. All of his former companies were sued out of existance. Bandit taxi companies have always existed, and Travis is the Al Capone of our times. Sure, a crack dealing Uber driver selling dime bags of weed in a leased Toyota makes money the first week out, but is it sustainable?
When will anyone see an Uber IPO? Not anytime soon, likely never. A company with no assets and no product beyond this week doesn’t have much of a future and Uber executives are jumping off the sinking Uber ship. How many lawsuits does it take to put a modern unicorn silicon valley app company out of business, only time will tell.
Maybe Uber will be put out of business by an especially tragic incident, like when Uber Driver Dalton went on his spree killing in Kalamazoo. Uber is busy lying for the courts on that one. Fact is, Uber sent the Kalamazoo spree killer to pick up more taxi fare paying customers even as his victims lay dead and bleeding. Uber won’t even acknowledge any responsibility or even talk to the parents of the 6 year old girl an Uber driver ran over. Uber is doomed by it’s own incompetence and shoddy business practices.
Is it really cheaper to hire an Uber driver driving a Hertz rent-a-car than renting a car. Many Ubered passengers sign up for 90 cent a mile rides and then discover the real-world cost of three times what a taxi cost. It’s called getting Ubered, and if you let it happen to your Grandma you are a bad person, no two ways about it. If Grandma is driving the Uber, it’s even worse.
The profits of running an illegal criminal enterprise are the same as they have always been: prison. When will Travis Kalanick do his perp walk in handcuffs and have his computers shut down? Taxi drivers worldwide, from London to South Africa, from Brazil to New York, wait and wonder: How long? Police, supposedly the backbone of a civilized society, should be ashamed. People who use an illegal Uber, even those who think they should decide what laws to obey, should be ashamed. The only bigger losers beside Uber drivers are the braindeads who pay them for a classless ride.
It’s not widely known, but the fact of the matter is no good taxi drivers have ever lost the ability to make a good living as a respectable taxi driver. Uber is able to deflate and suck dry any taxi market they flood with drivers, they are a huge embarrasment to all who make their living as a on-demand for-hire driver, but at the end of the day all Uber brings for competition is a pervy cheap unreliable ride, often in a Toyota or Honda, often costing more.
In any city Uber operates, the amount of the driver sign-on bonuses and amount of the ever-present promo codes(‘free rides’) is a good indication of when Uber is done scraping the profits off the backs of hard-working taxi drivers, often working to support families. The inevitable Uber news stories and Uber lawsuits are a painful reminder to politicians and companies that have screwed the pooch. When Uber quits a city, only the cheapskates squeek.
‘Need a ride?’
This article dedicated to the many dead, run over, raped, robbed, left standing on the side of the road, credit card fraud victims and the many other Ubered victims whom Travis has gotten rich off of with his Uber fly-by-night bandit taxi jitney operation. Uber is still illegal and on a 90 MPH race off a cliff. The TAXI trade has always, and will always survive.
Since word of Taxiapp came out, some doomers & gloomers can’t quite believe a band of committed Taxi drivers can possess the knowhow to achieve such a seemingly unreachable goal. Some have said, “we’ll come aboard if it takes off”.
If Taxiapp is to succeed it’ll need ‘brave hearts’ and their support from day one!
Cynicism’s like folding your arms, stepping back and commenting on affairs like the two old boys on the Muppets. Just throwing out adverse and derisive comments Whereas others really try to effect and improve the lives of those around them, Which’s correct and noble.
At Taxiapp we, with hundreds of drivers who’ve so far signed up believe a credible challenge can be mounted against the corporate ‘Goliaths’ who await with anticipation the demise of the ‘Street Hail’ so they can pick our pockets!!!!
As our trade sips in the Last Chance Saloon, we may never again have the opportunity to influence events. We’ll be hostages to fortune, with the usual suspects making ‘fortunes’ out of us!!!!
Fellow Cabmen and Women.
YOUR TRADE NEEDS YOU!
Introducing the team:
Ladies first, Mirna, flanked by Sean, Phil and Scot.
This pic was taken Friday 12th August, after an extremely productive meeting with TfL TPH. They’re considered to be Taxiapps A Team and represented us and the trade admirably.
We wandered beforehand if TfL would be authoritative, obstructive, disparaging, even censure or condemn our aspirations. They were anything but!…During the meet they enthused over the concept of Taxiapp at one point describing it as ‘unique’!
They are prepared to give us as much assistance as they’re allowed.
Taxiapp feel the TfL representitives found it refreshing to be eyeballing working cab drivers, who know how things are and what they’re talking about, rather then corporate executives types chasing pound notes, feigning flattery for the cab trade.
The PCO approved The Eco-Power emission reducing systems PCO notice 30/07 then withdrew approval on PCO notice 10/08. In the High Court Judicial Review that followed the Judge ruled that TFL had made 2 unlawful decisions which were quashed. Boris Johnson formally apologised for the conduct of TFL in relation to Eco Power.
We have had the coming & goings of the mandatory receipt printers, and now we have the mandatory credit card taxi facility which bizarrely has to be fitted within the passenger compartment of the vehicle even though credit card acceptance has been available in a majority of vehicles & radio/taxi app vehicles for years by the driver?TFL is an authority of power using lunacy as a tool of ideology to implications of duress towards licencees in a way that licensing authorities should not operate.
Could you imagine similar licensing authorities such as public houses not having their licenses renewed unless card payment systems were fitted mandatory within?… it just would not or could not happen, but taxis drivers are disunited and easily picked off.
Card taking facilities are a positive step in a very competitive industry so it will only benefit trade, but not having software installed to enable prior card authorisation before a fare is commenced like the software fitted to petrol station forecourts or Hotel tabs is far more important than passenger compartment installations as when card is void/faulty/stolen or overdrawn it really doesn’t matter a damn where the card reader is situated within the cab but that it serves the purpose it is installed for… paying for the fare, …. and TFL will not/have not facilitated
pre-approval software…but worry not as there is a solution
The Taxi bye laws do contain the deposit payment rules and if a driver does have apprehensions about any possible misgivings regarding not getting paid at the end of any journeys … they should simply apply the deposit taking rules at the beginning of any journey (particularly including card payments) to ensure proper payment and this “deposit” is as the driver deems necessary… or you have right of refusal if not mutually satisfied..
You could be forgiven if you thought you heard the immortal words from Lance Corporal Jones echoing around the Iron Lung or at any rank in London in recent days.
Uber, the car service that claim to be a tech company when it suits, are currently flexing their PR muscles in an attempt to stop a new TfL private hire regulations clamp down strangling their global business model.
In the last week, paid for articles in London publications are asking Londoners to question why all private hire drivers should be required to speak English and to carry the correct insurance.
This PR campaign seems to however had the complete opposite affect that the American based company were hoping for. Comments, articles and blogs from long standing Uber customers are now questioning why they do not support a regulation change that meant drivers had the bare minimum insurance policies in place. In fact, on the back of the recent Brexit result, many of their customers are also questioning the impact of using a low cost immoral business model that relies on low skilled foreign drivers who have little understanding of the English language.
The penny is now dropping all around London with customers finally taking the time to question aspects of their service. One recent article questions how Uber have invested £100m in London alone. He wondered how a tech company with no employees, vehicles or assets could have spent such a total. Only then has he come to the decision that Uber are in fact offering services below their market value to remove competitors. The prices customers now see will not last forever.
Make no mistake Uber are struggling to retain drivers at the moment. They are very coy on their driver turnover and only proudly release the number of registered drivers currently standing at just over 25,000. That however doesn’t tell the full story. Drivers on the Uber platform do not resign, or receive a P45 when they leave. They instead simply hold their finger down on the Uber icon situated on their mobile phone and press delete. It is estimated that an average Uber driver works the platform for 6-12 months before either leaving or supplementing the work using other apps or illegal touting, before than leaving completely.
This turnover wasn’t a problem when Boris Johnson was Mayor of London as the supply of new drivers was high. On average 600 new private hire drivers each week were entering the market. Roll on to recent weeks since the tighter insurance rules have been set and we are seeing a reduction of new entrants as high as 75%.
So it raises the question; just how many of those 25,000 Uber drivers are actually active? It’s very much a numbers game for Uber. Their business model doesn’t rely on keeping drivers happy and motivated. Instead it’s all about luring them in, promising riches and hoping the drivers keep trying to bite on the carrot dangling in front them. It also relies on referrals, but with Hire and Reward insurance so costly and now a required document, drivers are now struggling to coerce family and friends to sign up.
Alarm bells are now ringing furiously at Uber HQ, but with no Cameron, Osbourne, Johnson, Hendy or Daniels to assist them, they are finally left alone to douse their own poisonous flames using London’s paid for media. Currently, as it stands, it’s not enough.
Even with the latest version of the PHV rules, TfL are allowing drivers to break the law.
Private hire cars or mini cabs must display the correct Hire and Reward insurance in their cars by law, passengers should always ask to see this policy before setting off in a mini cab.
Never get into a mini cab that has not been pre booked that’s illegal. That rules out 75% of all their fares
Back in March “Motherboard” revealed that fully functioning Uber accounts were for sale on the dark web, thousands of customers personal details have been shared and sold onto hackers who steal from the customers personal accounts.
Surge pricing Uber can increase your fare by up to 10 times the normal rates.
Many mini cab drivers have never driven in the UK and can use their EU drivers License.
Drivers are encouraged to work more than 80 hours per week here is the results of dangerous drivers.
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Free market sounds good to me, we could all sign up to “let’s have it Cabs” work where you like anywhere in the UK drive what you like and charge what you like.
It is incredible that Tfl would even consider that a PHV driver could work for more than one company in London… But it goes further, they can work Gatwick, Stansted, Heathrow, Bristol on a Tfl license.
Now Uber are complaining that Uber drivers have the appropriate insurance…
Well they don’t, there’s not one single company in the UK which allows Hire and reward insurance for PHV drivers to ply for hire, further, work anywhere the want throughout the the UK.
It’s time to take Tfl to task over their total lack of regulation and enforcement of their rules which they don’t understand.
Questions to the new Mayor:
Why should PHV drivers be afforded more rights than a London Taxi ?
What’s the definition on plying for hire?
Where are Tfl in terms of insurance with immediate hiring for private hire bookings ?
Tfl have said in the past jump in a car then make a booking through the App really?
Who will be appointed to oversee this total mismanagement of laws and processes in regard to the law ?
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