Pressure From Uber Forces London Taxis To Finally Accept Cards (thestack.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Following a public consultation that compared the service unfavorably with Uber, London's 21,000 black cabs will finally accept card payment from October of 2016, with a possible option to pay via PayPal. London Mayor Boris Johnson continues to support and defend the legendarily expensive and iconic taxi service, saying 'This move will boost business for cabbies and bring the trade into the 21st century by enabling quicker and more convenient journeys for customers'. Most Londoners feel that the move should have been made in the 1980s, and the consultation report indicates that Uber's increasing share of London fares has forced the innovation.

Comments

Just stop now

[Anonymous Coward]

Okay, this is starting to get a bit ridiculous. Can we please stop with all the articles vaguely related to Uber that have zero tech interest.

This is a site for techies, not taxi enthusiasts.

Re:Just stop now

[quantaman]

Okay, this is starting to get a bit ridiculous. Can we please stop with all the articles vaguely related to Uber that have zero tech interest.

This is a site for techies, not taxi enthusiasts.

I actually think this is one of the better ones with a tech interest.

I'm not a fan of Uber and their flagrant lawbreaking, but one of the arguments in favour of them is that the taxi industry was broken, and I think this is a good example of that.

London cabs don't accept credit cards?!?! I don't see how you can look at that fact and imagine it is anything resembling a healthy market. I still don't like Uber but this really does show how tech can be disruptive in a positive way.

Re: Just stop now

[AvitarX]

I love uber because I live in a medium sized city (250k people in a 30-45 minute to cross by car metro area).

How it used to work with cabs:
I call, they ask where I am. They kind of grumble and asknwhere I'm going. Then they say, nope. Try again with company two, they agree, tell me a driver will be there in 45 minutes, driver comes in 90. Driver is a dick about the trip not being long enough, and refuses to take cards "oh, no, that's really just for the airport, that's why it's painted on our car that we accept them for all fairs". Driver also is always asking me for directions.

With uber. Push button, five minutes later a driver shows up, happily GPSs to my location, and I give them five star rating.

The cab industry's legality was merely a way for them to be abusively anti consumer. I'm glad a company came and skirted the law to make getting a ride something I can do and a pleasant experiance. If the cab industry's protectionism was a give and take, I'd feel different. For example the post office pretty efficiently delivers letters, and they do it cheaply nationwide, while maintaining plenty of physical presence. They're exclusive priveledge of non express mail allows them to service areas cheaply that never otherwise would be. The cab industry on the otherhand used the exclusivity to do the opposite ( only serve the absolute most profitable jobs).

No sympathy for the black cabs

[mattrumpus]

Hi All,

Rare post from me, but this is close to my heart, being a long term (South) London resident. So... fuck the black cabs, really, they are truly shit in comparison to Uber. It's not just the card payment issue, it's the attitude you get from most of the drivers. They're not really interested in providing a cab service for London. They want to take bankers and tourists on short journeys around central London, and drive people to the airport and back. It can be difficult to find a black cab that will take you any distance "south of the river", so much so, it's even a cultural catch phrase here "Sorry gov, I ain't going south of the river".

Then, even when you get one, they really do cost. An Uber from central London to my place is about half the cost of a black cab. They're also not that comfortable a ride. Bumpy and cold usually. The only plus point is that they do take 5 passengers as standard, so there is that, minor, minor point....

Now, due to the black cabs being over priced, and really a bit shit, in true British fashion, rather than face actually making some kind of meaningful change to the system, a fudge has been added. Something called a "mini cab", or more accurately a "private hire vehicle". This is a just a car, no taxi meter, that you can hire to take you from A to B for a fixed price, but you can't hail it on the street, you have to call for one, or go to a pick up location. These vary wildly, from a professional, almost Uber like service such as Addison Lee, mentioned in a previous post, to a banged up, probably non street legal piece of crap driven by someone who looks like they've been awake 72 hours. Often they tout for business on the street (illegally) and, factoring in how late it is/cold the weather/drunk you are, a price is agreed... then often later disputed.

Anyway, mini cabs are licenced to operate as they do, although there are some totally illegal ones running around. The point is, black cabs never really served their purpose, so the mini cab system just kind of evolved into the cracks. It's the only type of cab most Londoners would have ever considered using.

Now we have Uber. Clean new cars, professional drivers, cheap, payments sorted in advance, phone app, the works. It's heaven. Actually, I find it interesting, all the US commenters on here talking about Uber being less professional, and operating illegally. The situation is totally different here. It is a superior cab ride in every way, and they are licenced private hire vehicles, so it's all legal. The black cab industry is trying to say that the Uber app on the drivers phone is effectively a taxi meter, and allows what is effectively street hailing, not sure how that is going, is there a court case?

Anyway, just wanted to get it off my chest. I will be so fucked off if a great service is killed, simply to protect a highly dysfunctional industry that has previously felt no pressure at all to improve their level of customer service. We all hate them anyway. This is an almost perfect "buggy whip manufacturer" situation, please let the black cab just die.

Phew....

p.s. I did see a protest by black cab drivers, about Uber, in central London recently, trying in vain to whip up some public support... they're delusional.