Uber Says Thousands of London Drivers Threatened By English Language Test (reuters.com)

Costas Pitas, writing for Reuters: Tens of thousands of London private hire drivers could lose their licenses due to new English reading and writing requirements, taxi app Uber said on Tuesday at the start of a court battle to halt the plans. San Francisco-based Uber, which allows users to book journeys at the touch of a button on their smartphone, has grown rapidly in recent years but faced bans and protests around the world as regulators play catch-up with technology disrupting traditional operators. Uber launched legal action in August after public body Transport for London (TfL) said that drivers should have to prove their ability to communicate in English, including to a standard of reading and writing which Uber says is too high. "It produces the profoundest of human effects. At one extreme it will lead to the loss of livelihood," Uber's lawyer Thomas de la Mare told the High Court in London. There are over 110,000 private hire drivers in the British capital, according to TfL but around 33,000 would fail to pass their renewal test due to the new language hurdle, de la Mare told the court, citing a calculation of data provided by TfL.

Comments

Re:more for taxi drivers

[Highdude702]

I live in Las Vegas, NV. The roads are plagued with a sea of traffic cones. Google maps doesnt account for that unless there is an accident or the road is completely closed. I've been driving service work around Las Vegas since I was 15. After 15 years of driving this city daily. Google maps can not get you from one end to the other faster than I can. I have guys I work with call me and ask whats the fastest way to get from point A to point B. Human Knowledge beats shitty "AI" Algorithms all day. Also I can do it without siphoning your personal information along the way..

Re:Uber need to get a clue.

[Captain Splendid]

Shouldn't the level of quality be up to the customer?

Seeing as the UK is a democracy, it already is. And they decided at the ballot box in order to save time having to make the decision every time they get in a damn cab.