While listening to LBC this morning, I was startled by an
advert of behalf of Uber. They were looking for drivers!
I always believed they had more drivers than they needed,
and that their reduction of the drivers' percentage of fares
was a reflection of that.

So why are Uber advertising for drivers? Is that they are
expanding ever more rapidly or is that drivers are deserting
Uber in large numbers?

Incidentally, apparently in another LBC programme, Sadiq Khan
said he thought TfL had made a mistake in giving a licence to
Uber. Did anyone hear that programme?

On 06/06/2016 16:57, Robin9 wrote:

Incidentally, apparently in another LBC programme, Sadiq Khan
said he though TfL had made a mistake in giving a licence to
Uber. Did anyone hear that programme?

No - but why was it a mistake, compared to any other minicab type firm?

On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:42:56 +0100
Someone Somewhere wrote:
On 06/06/2016 16:57, Robin9 wrote:

Incidentally, apparently in another LBC programme, Sadiq Khan
said he though TfL had made a mistake in giving a licence to
Uber. Did anyone hear that programme?

No - but why was it a mistake, compared to any other minicab type firm?

Because you're essentially hailing a cab on the street rather than pre-booking
it. The fact that hail is via electronic means is neither here nor there.
Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around waiting for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.

--
Spud

On 07/06/2016 09:18, d wrote:
On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:42:56 +0100
Someone Somewhere wrote:
On 06/06/2016 16:57, Robin9 wrote:

Incidentally, apparently in another LBC programme, Sadiq Khan
said he though TfL had made a mistake in giving a licence to
Uber. Did anyone hear that programme?

No - but why was it a mistake, compared to any other minicab type firm?

Because you're essentially hailing a cab on the street rather than pre-booking
it. The fact that hail is via electronic means is neither here nor there.
Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around waiting for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.


Or I use that TfL service ("Cabwise") where via electronic means I text
a number which does an electronic lookup to provide a set of minicab
companies who are local to me (and therefore should have cars local to
me), who I can, via electronic means, call to pick me up?

wrote in message ...
On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:42:56 +0100
Someone Somewhere wrote:
On 06/06/2016 16:57, Robin9 wrote:

Incidentally, apparently in another LBC programme, Sadiq Khan
said he though TfL had made a mistake in giving a licence to
Uber. Did anyone hear that programme?

No - but why was it a mistake, compared to any other minicab type firm?

Because you're essentially hailing a cab on the street rather than
pre-booking
it. The fact that hail is via electronic means is neither here nor there.
Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around waiting
for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.

but isn't that what they do (subject to them actually having an empty cab
available, of course)?

tim

On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 09:42:11 +0100
"tim..." wrote:
wrote in message ...
On Tue, 7 Jun 2016 08:42:56 +0100
Someone Somewhere wrote:
On 06/06/2016 16:57, Robin9 wrote:

Incidentally, apparently in another LBC programme, Sadiq Khan
said he though TfL had made a mistake in giving a licence to
Uber. Did anyone hear that programme?

No - but why was it a mistake, compared to any other minicab type firm?

Because you're essentially hailing a cab on the street rather than
pre-booking
it. The fact that hail is via electronic means is neither here nor there.
Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around waiting
for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.

but isn't that what they do (subject to them actually having an empty cab
available, of course)?

No. Uber drivers take pickups from whatever area they're in at the time which
is often of their own choosing just like a black cab. Minicab drivers however
have an office they're based at and usually only take pickups from nearby that
office. If a minicab company had its cars posted around strategic places in
central london and allowed its drivers to take direct bookings from customers
via an app or phone, TfL would soon have something to say about it - but how is
that different to what Uber do?

--
Spud

On 2016-06-07 15:34:28 +0000, d said:

No. Uber drivers take pickups from whatever area they're in at the time which
is often of their own choosing just like a black cab. Minicab drivers however
have an office they're based at and usually only take pickups from nearby that
office. If a minicab company had its cars posted around strategic places in
central london and allowed its drivers to take direct bookings from customers
via an app or phone, TfL would soon have something to say about it - but how is
that different to what Uber do?

It's *exactly* what minicab companies do outside London, other than
that the office dispatches when you do a phone booking, which might
tick off a legal technicality but is in practice insignificant. London
is an oddity in how minicabs work.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 2016-06-07 08:18:37 +0000, d said:

Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around waiting for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.

Which they are allowed to do, and it is a common use-case for minicabs
outside London.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

On 08/06/2016 00:08, Neil Williams wrote:

On 2016-06-07 08:18:37 +0000, d said:

Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around
waiting for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.

Which they are allowed to do, and it is a common use-case for minicabs
outside London.


In London too.

On Wed, 8 Jun 2016 00:08:13 +0100
Neil Williams wrote:
On 2016-06-07 08:18:37 +0000, d said:

Its no different to if a minicab firm has its cars driving around waiting for
messages on the radio to go pick up someone nearby.

Which they are allowed to do, and it is a common use-case for minicabs
outside London.

So they just drive around an area waiting for a radio call to pick someone up?
I doubt that. Even if they did , its still a call from a central dispatch
office, not a direct call from a customer which is the crucial difference.

--
Spud