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London Has Decided To Ban Uber (recode.net)
Johana Bhuiyan, writing for Recode: Transport for London, the taxi regulating service in London, announced today that it would not be renewing Uber's license to operate because of concerns over the company's "lack of corporate responsibility" in relation to public safety issues. The ride-hail company, which launched in London in 2012, is appealing the TfL's decision and will be allowed to continue to operate until a court makes a decision on that appeal. That process could take months. London is a significant market for Uber: The company says there are 40,000 drivers and 3.5 million riders on its platform in London. And like New York City, it is one of the most regulated markets where Uber operates. Unlike most markets across the U.S., Uber drivers in London and New York City are required to participate in government administered background checks.
Ride-hail company? What's that? It's a taxi company.
Also I wish that Brits, as the inventors of the English language, would ban using "uber" as a verb.
Uber suxx ... Uber customers suxxx . Too cheap to pay an honest fare and too lazy to drive themselves and fuck-up bitch Gaia with neato pollution. Carry on Jackson ... cut that fro and hail a cab !
Once again the government boot crushes the people.
More like Sadiq Khan knows which side his political bread is buttered and decided to kowtow to the unions that keep him in power.
What's a few million pissed of Londoners and tens of thousands of jobs between fellow travellers eh....
Whether or not London should have Uber cars is a decision to be made by people who actually live in London.
How should Londoners make this decision?
Well, by purchasing or not purchasing Uber's services.
Appeal processes take forever, so nothing comes of this.
Ha Ha!!!!
Very many disparate groups have shaped the English language.
Indeed, that's why English has been so successful; though it has the warts of organic growth, it has naturally taken the best features of nearly every language on the planet.
Just rename the company and reapply. "Uber" is the company they banned, but this new company called "Upper".
I am glad the adults are finally stepping in.
Both Uber and Facebook (now forced to turnover the Russians ads) were running amok as if no rules existed for their industry... There are, and they had been ignoring them.
Great call London!
From my perspective. Anecdotal evidence, but Iâ(TM)ve been hit more than once with the surge pricing scam. One particular Uber decided that it was $205.00 from JFK to mid-town Manhattan. I ended up taking a yellow for $65 plus tip. I like the concept of Uber and Lyft, but the execution feels greedy.
learn the knowledge
There are much better ethical and local options!
Uber is a greedy and unethical multi-national corporation that only cares about profits, and does not care about people.
While Uber is abusive and socially dubious corporation, what came before is even worse. I hope people remember how incestuous and overpriced traditional "regulated" plated cabs were. The only reason we have seen some degree of normalization there is because they are forced to compete with Uber.
Who needs Uber if you are a wealthy and privileged upper class Brit? You ought to have your own private chauffeur! If you can't afford that, you should be crammed into the Tube, as it befits commoners and the riff raff!
-- Your Betters
It used to be, though, when the Roman Empire actually existed.
I doubt 95% of londoners give a flying fuck. It'll be the 5% of drunken morons who need a quick taxi home no questions asked that'll be upset. Shame I don't have my violin.
Oh, and it wasn't Khans decision.
... should be based on how much income the brothels make. Sometimes the minority of I'm-all-right-screw-you-jack types have to put up with the majority not wanting their city to descend to the lowest ethical common denominator.
I have no problem with the technology uber use, its the future, but the company itself is a disgrace and I'd be quite happy to see it go bust.
The Roman's had a far more impactful empire than the Brits, and yet the world's "lingua franca" ain't Latin (see what I did there? English took what it wanted from Latin, and chucked the rest away).
Latin was the common language of for science and governance for 1500 years which is about 10 times longer than English has been the a pretty common language. Still few major countries write their laws in English if they have a native language, which make is a lot less impactful than latin was.
While Uber is abusive and socially dubious corporation,
Yes.
what came before is even worse.
WTF? No. The world isn't America. This is London.
London has had regulated minicabs (i.e. what Uber is) since about forever. If you didn't want to fork out for a black cab, you could use any one of the minicab firms. This ranged from the local dodgy one man band, to a local company with a reputation and a collection of taxis to a bigger company like Addison-Lee who had an app and GPS tracking for ages already.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Dude, put down the crack pipe and stop spouting this bullshit narrative.
Cabs are regulated for driver and passenger safety. Cars are meant to meet a standard of mechanical safety, drivers are meant to have commercial licenses and insurances.
Uber making bullshit claims that those laws don't apply to them doesn't make it true. Who fucking cares if you claim to be a technology company and therefor exempt from the applicable laws? It's not up to Uber to decide what laws do and don't apply to them.
Traditional cab companies have costs associated with complying with those laws. Simply refusing to comply with laws and offloading the costs of vehicle ownership to drivers doesn't change the legal situation.
This Ayn Rand bullshit about cabs being organised rackets is unfounded in reality, it's just talking points of assholes who wish to pretend like you can circumvent laws.
You're full of shit, and you're spouting drivel
So how much did they get in bribes from the taxi business ?
Let's hope this is the start of a trend.
The Roman's had a far more impactful empire than the Brits, and yet the world's "lingua franca" ain't Latin (see what I did there? English took what it wanted from Latin, and chucked the rest away).
During the Middle Ages, Latin was the language of the church and the elite. The lingua franca, i.e. French (Français), was the language of the common people. When French became the diplomatic language ("corps diplomatique"), of trade and of the elites (in Russia until the Napoleontic wars [read "War and Peace" by Tolstoi about that], in Belgium [Brussels was a Dutch-speaking city, now there are hundreds of different languages in use but on the street and in shops French is still the lingua franca while international organizations and corporations use English], etc...), the meaning of "lingua franca" shifted. During the 20th century, English became the lingua franca.
If uber isn't paying the same entry fees to the market as existing taxis, then it is unfair competition for the taxis. However, it should be about opening the regulation since there is obviously a market need not being met by taxis. There is no stopping the taxi companies from investing in an app and backend analytics to direct routes and reserve rides. If taxis wanted to innovate, they would, but instead, they enjoy state protection.
Cabs are regulated for driver and passenger safety. Cars are meant to meet a standard of mechanical safety, drivers are meant to have commercial licenses and insurances.
Best joke of the day.
I mean, what do you think you've proved here? Brothels should work that way; if a community doesn't want a brothel, then it should come together and purchase the property from the brothel owner, and thereby slowly but surely push those brothels to the edge of civilized town through voluntary exchange rather than involuntary imposition.
the world's "lingua franca" ain't Latin
As the root of most of the languages in the modern western world, I'd contest that assertion...
"Ride Hail Company" - I am sick and tired of people using euphemisms in a lame attempt to side track reality. (Alternate Facts?) .. Taking someone you don't know, to a place you don't normally go - FOR MONEY - is a Taxi. period.
The problem with Uber is a corporation who's revenue model is built by taking pay and benefits way from the lowest link (the driver) and burdening them with expenses (their own car) and all liability all the while attempting to side step protections and taxes put in place by local governments.
It's a sham and a parasite and it's creators need to be sitting behind bars next to martin shkreli.
I expect an aggressive response by the US government. The last election was a message to dipshit countries like the UK, Canada, etc: This kind of economic terrorism will no longer be tolerated. If Uber breaks your local rules, we don't give a fuck, either change your rules or prepare for economic retaliation.
The Freedom Association responds here. International visitors to London who use Uber regularly might want to speak up too.
Uber WILL die, I will kill it myself with fyre!
In which case we would invite you to consult the definition of lingua franca.
Those who advocate genocide deserve every protection afforded by law, and none afforded by common human decency.
Hopefully this becomes a trend.
Mod this up, Uber and its passengers are, in fact, a bunch of bitches. This has been objectively proven.
If people felt unsafe using Uber, Uber would lose riders, and if Uber drivers were unsafe, they wouldn't get insurance. Given Uber's constant tracking of both drivers and passengers, you're probably safer in an Uber ride than in a taxi.
No, Uber bans are simply about money and power, using "public safety" as a smokescreen: the London city government wants to force people to send money in the direction of their political cronies: taxi operators, unions, public transit monopolies, because they know full well that Uber can hurt all those government-imposed monopolies badly.
Most of the languages of Europe are derived from Latin. The reason that Latin isn't the lingua franca today has everything to do with when the Roman Empire died out and nothing to do with any characteristics of Latin or English that are falsely perceived as inherent. It's about political and militaristic influence, not about how much people "like" the language.
You are conflating activities between consenting adults with activities where there is no such consent. No wonder your deductions are confused.
Secondly, it is the home owner who as an incentive: There is an incentive to protect one's property from burglary; whether the government is involved in helping a home owner protect his home is irrelevant.
Indeed, given that a government tends to make itself a self-imposed monopoly, why should you expect a government to do a good job in helping you protect your home? You shouldn't! Most people don't! That's why there are private alarm companies, and surveillance cameras you can buy at Walmart; that's why "private" security outnumbers governmental police. The police take reports after-the-fact, and show up long after any crime has occurred.
So, yes, if a community doesn't want burglary, then a community should put its efforts into buying up decrepit, run-down spaces, fixing them up, establishing security infrastructure, protocols, and organizations, and then maintaining all of those things according to objectively profitable (and therefore sustainable) means.
Get it yet?
Man, you statists are thick.
They refer to 'concerns' over how Uber reports crimes in their cabs?
What, specifically, do they mean?
What are they doing or not doing that's different than the Black Cabs? Are there specific incidents?
Be specific, or it sounds more like a political hit job.
-Styopa
While Uber is abusive and socially dubious corporation
You forgot "criminal".
what came before is even worse.
You'll have to provide support for that assertion. At least in my part of the US, this appears to be untrue.
I'm not saying that traditional cab companies are great or anything -- they tend to be pretty awful. But it sure looks like, at best, Uber is no better.
Whether the Chinese become the military/political super power or not, their ridiculous tone-based, logographic language will never be used outside of China. People in China use it as a matter of culture, but no one would ever willingly adopt such a piss-poor way to communicate.
Yes, even my local minicab company, which obviously isn't big enough to have their own app, would send SMS status updates to your phone, like 'your cab is 3mins away' or 'your cab has arrived, reg no XXX123'.
All of this long before Uber even existed, and without having to flout any licencing laws.
Just don't shut down Fake Taxi.... thanks.
Watch out when government officials throw around "public safety" as a reasoning for anything. It's usually just a code word for "we don't like them and don't have any real reasons". I'm sure Uber does have its fair share of problems, but if you can't outline clear, common sense reasons and supporting statistics why a popular business shouldn't exist then it probably should. And as with most things it doesn't need to be perfect right off the bat, just better than what existed before it.
If uber isn't paying the same entry fees to the market as existing taxis, then it is unfair competition for the taxis. However, it should be about opening the regulation since there is obviously a market need not being met by taxis. There is no stopping the taxi companies from investing in an app and backend analytics to direct routes and reserve rides. If taxis wanted to innovate, they would, but instead, they enjoy state protection.
It's not just "state protection". Taxi operators have sheltered themselves beneath a mountain of protectionist regulations and artificially limited numbers of licenses that they themselves lobbied for. Ostensibly the regulations were touted as "public safety measures", but they were designed expressly to prevent or delay actual competition from taking away their business. The result has been inflated prices for everyone, and full bank accounts for the taxi companies. Meanwhile, they publicly bemoan all the "regulatory burden" they have to operate under! And after all that phony acting, they still have the nerve to complain that a competitor is "unfair"? Entitled pricks, all of them. I hope Über / Lÿft / Whüever takes all their lunch money.
John
Covfefe is from Latin?
You are separating society into 2 groups: "the masses" and "the imposers". Yet, you provide no clear way to make this delineation; your system only works if you can identify angels to be the imposers, but you don't provide such a way, which makes your solution worthless.
Actually, it's far worse than that; what you say is internally inconsistent: You poo poo the "Wisdom of the crowd", and yet rely on that very concept to build your "democracy". What a goofball you are.
If anyone is up past his mental bedtime, it's you.
Many, but not most. You have Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian and a few regional languages that don't have that many speakers, like Romansh, Sardu or Catalan. Note that there are not nearly as many Spanish speakers in Europe than in the Americas. There are just as many if not more Germanic and Slavic languages in Europe.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
Jesus. TfL is not the City, you muppet
Cabs are regulated for driver and passenger safety.
Cabs are regulated to reduce traffic on the roads and increase the cost of entry to competitors.
What's the death toll up to from Muslim drivers in Europe?
The then there's Hungarian and Finnish...
Has a nice app , an experience like what Uber used to be (vs newly arrived foreigners who have zero clue where they are, and shit cars) . Yes, black cabs are friggin worse than Uber, but there are good alternatives.
An American who spent a week a month in London and the south in the past two years.
They are a small family in comparison - these two, Estonian, Sami and whatever the indigenous people of Mari El speak beside Russian.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
There are three main families of languages in Europe: the Romance languages, which are derived from Latin, the Germanic, and the Slavic. There are also languages like Hungarian and Finnish that aren't in any of those three. The main Romance languages are French, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, and whatever they speak in Romania. The majority of languages in Europe are not Romance languages, such as English, German, Polish, Russian, Greek, and Serbo-Croatian.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
The times I took a black cab in London (which is what this whole thing is about), the cabs were very nice and the drivers were excellent.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
"My" system, as you call it, doesn't only work "if", it works, PERIOD. All current prosperous and peaceful societies work on this principle. And neither I, nor anyone else, delineates between the "masses" and the "imposers", the delianation happens by itself, from a combination of socio-economic conditions and random chance. Countries that were founded by benivolent "dictators" ended up peaceful prosperous democracies. The rest ended up as tyranical totaliterian opressive regimes. You seem to think that humans in general have much control over their collective destinies. Reality check: They don't.
You seem to share somethings that virtually all libertarians I've ever encountered have in common: disconnected idealism. Not the kind of idealism that derives from enthousiasm and motivates people to actually do something to change the world, but the kind that you see in kids that keep complaining that things aren't how they "should" be. Well guess what: Things are always exactly as they should be. It's called realism, Whether this is to your liking or not is irrelevant. The universe wasn't made to please you.
You truly believe in libertarianism ? Then DO something about it. Get into politics, Convince people. Or get rich, gain power and impose it. PROOVE ME WRONG.
But none of this will happend until you grow up. Until then, I have nothing more to say to you.
Good job assuming all the world is America.
A clue: it ain't.
London has had lightly regulated minicabs since before the internet. Uber couldn't manage to abide by the weak regulations. Minicabs will continue to exist in large numbers alongside black cabs and the world will keep turning.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
This is so true. Just as it is in NYC. The cab companies who owned the artificially limited number of medallions in the city made tons of money of the backs of poor drivers and over charging riders for decades. I'm glad uber and lyft ect can finally operate in the city. You can see just how much of a strangle hold lmedallion owners had on the market by looking at the value for the those medallions now. They used to sell for $1 million plus, now only a couple hundred grand.
London is a significant market for Uber
But since Uber looses money on each course, loosing a significant market should be a good news on the finance front, shouldn't it?
In your scenario, the community would thereby eventually push the brothels out to the fringe of town; that's usually what's called the Red Light District.
As for pollution, that's a totally different issue: Pollution occurs when one person violates another person's property rights; that's a matter of imposition; that's a matter of involuntary interaction. The fact that pollution is a problem is just an indication that your society has a weak sense of property rights (but, what else can you expect from a society that is built around an organization that is culturally blessed and ordained with the "right" to engage in coercive do-as-we-say interaction?).
Your system is a parasite on the productive sector of society.
All current prosperous and peaceful societies work DESPITE your system.
You'll note that not all coercive systems are prosperous or peaceful; the ones that are have something in common: Markets where individuals engage in voluntary exchange—capitalism. That is what matters, not your parasitic coercion.
Uber knows where they can play fast and lose, and where they have to play by the existing rules.
Uber is available in Singapore. Uber drivers need a special licence, which is about half as hard to get as a taxi driver's licence.
We don't here much about "funny business" from Uber Singapore.
Probably cos if they did try to be funny here, the law will come down on them like a tonne of bricks and senior management do get jailed, fined here at times.
I know some of the bankers involved with the 1MDB (malaysia government fund) fuck up in Singapore have been jailed / licence revoked and one of the banks had to close. I know in America it's expected that those responsible for the fuck ups get a golden parachute. Here, senior management get steel cuffs and get thrown into jail (if they are found to be personally responsible).
Latin wasn't the "lingua franca" in Roman times, it was Greek.
All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
...one small step for mankind...
To treat pollution as a matter of property rights, either we'd need a civil court system costing trillions of dollars, or we'd have to have absolutely no pollution. Neither is practical. Anarchy isn't very practical, either.
You folks really need to look at what things cost. My brothel gets me money by being bought out over and over again, and using the court system to enforce minor issues now handled by regulation would be incredibly expensive.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes