Taxis to compete with Uber with new 'Curb' ride-hailing app.

LAS VEGAS: Uber and Lyft are about to get some strong competition in Nevada. 

A new app promises to connect passengers to at least half of the cabs in Las Vegas. It’s expected to work with Smartphones, allowing people to e-hail a local taxi.  

The app is called Curb and is being developed by Verifone, a company that specializes in handling online payments.

Unlike Uber, the Curb app will allow users to call for a cab on demand, or schedule one in advance. Curb claims it will launch with 500 ‘licensed and insured taxi drivers,’ according to a company statement. In time the app developer says it will be linked with half of the taxi cabs in Las Vegas.

Curb will also charge a fixed price for taxi rides, regardless of demand. Uber uses what’s known as surge pricing, meaning the higher the demand for its drivers the more passengers pay for a ride.

Local cab companies set to be a part of the Curb app include LuckyCab, Western Cab Company and Nellis Cab Company.

Curb is also touting safety measures that have been a sticking point for Uber and Lyft. “Our drivers are already drug-tested and thoroughly background checked and our vehicles are regularly inspected,” according to spokesperson Jim Eckstaedt.

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Support Black Taxis, Help The Homeless Christmas Appeal.

Paul Sweeney, of the Support Black Taxis FaceBook group, is asking drivers of the London Taxi trade to help the homeless this Christmas, by donating useful items. 

The group also need volunteers who are willing to give up some time to help deliver packages, when needed over the holiday period.

Hats jumpers scarves and other items of clothing are especially needed, as are blankets, thermals, toothpaste, toothbrushes and some packaged food items.

Anyone who wants to donate a parcel or offer to help should contact Paul on (07969) 177778 

or email: pd_sweeney@yahoo.com

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#Save Taxi Announce Their 8 Mile Charity Walk, 28th November.

#SaveTaxi is delighted to announce that on 28 November we will be doing a charity walk visiting some of the main taxi ranks in central London along the way.

The two Charities we will be supporting are very close to the taxi trades' heart. They are The London Taxi Drivers Fund for Underprivileged Children and The London Taxi Drivers Benevolent Association for the War Disabled.

Starting at Paddington station at 2pm we will be covering approx 8 miles on foot. Starting from Paddington station and then on to Victoria station, then to Waterloo station and finishing at Kings Cross. Let's hope for dry weather!

We hope to be collecting donations as well as sponsorship money on the day and really hope that many of our wonderful cabbies will support us on the day. If you would like to join us on the day please contact us via email on saveourblacktaxis@yahoo.com or if you would like to make a donation to the above you can do this via PayPal to saveourblacktaxis@gmail.com using 'charity walk' as the reference.

To find out more about the charities and their wonderful work please visit: (just click links)

www.taxicharity.org and http://ift.tt/20sY1DJ

We have also now launched our website so anyone not on social media can also follow us at: 

http://ift.tt/1My10Al 

Stronger together x 

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Ooops – Uber rep recommends Windows Phone user switch services because the app on Windows is unstable

Uber and Microsoft have a generally good relationship, with Uber providing Windows 10 apps in the future for Windows devices and being integrated into Cortana, so when we were quite surprised when we read this post on reddit.

       

The crux of the matter was that  a Windows Phone user had been having some trouble with the Uber app on his Lumia, and so like any good customer would, he reached out to Uber’s customer service. After a bit of back and forth, he received an email stating that the Uber app is “not yet stable” and that he should use a “an Android phone or iOS supported phone” for better use of the app.

Obviously, this caused quite a bit of outrage as Windows phone users got upset at Uber for essentially recommending they buy a new device for a fault of the company’s own making

We reached out to Uber and got the following response.

Rather than being a sinister plot to keep Windows down, it was most likely a mistake made by a less careful employee.

Of course, when placed against a background of Windows users being neglected by big companies, we can understand the frustration. In this case thankfully, it's no big deal.

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What Ever Happened To Eco City Vehicles ???.

Unless you've been in a coma, you will obviously know of  Uber, the minicab ehailing smartphone app that has disrupted taxi markets in more than 300 cities worldwide, including London. 

But you may be less aware of the substantial impact its explosive growth has had on UK companies. 

For instance, Eco City Vehicles (ECV), the former supplier of the six-seater Mercedes Vito to taxi companies, partly blamed weak trading in the first half of 2014 on "uncertainty caused in the licensed taxi trade by the emergence of Uber." 

The chart below shows the precipitous decline in Eco City's share price over the past three years. The group entered and then exited administration during this period and now operates as a technology, media and telecoms investment company....sound familiar?

The easy availability of private cash could delay an Uber flotation: 

Uber boss Travis Kalanick recently said the group is "nowhere near" the point of seeking a public listing. "Give us a few years," he added. 

Uber entered the London market in 2012 to much furore - it recently won a legal battle over the right to operate in the capital. Its UK operations posted a tenfold increase in turnover to £11.3m, according to the subsidiary's latest Companies House filing. 

Reports have been publish which allege that although the company turned over £11.3m, it paid less tax in the UK than 5 London Taxi drivers have in total. 

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THE MAYFAIR MOB : who are they? .... By Marc Turner.

One man on his own is a nuisance, one man and his mates is an army!” That is the maxim of Mick Smith, founder of the new proactive presence on the streets of Mayfair and the Square Mile. 

Before attaining his green badge, Mick had been a Yellow badge holder in the Croydon sector for 13 years and worked minicabs for 17 years before that. He began to notice similarities between the demise of work in the suburbs and what is currently being experienced in Central London suburban drivers, over time, deserting town ranks in favour of train stations and unwittingly handing minicabs a free reign. That induced Mick’s belief to help create taxi occupancy on ranks at all times.

Last January during the mother of all kipper seasons, disenchanted Mick joined Twitter where he soon met like-minded cabbies who desired more involvement in their destiny. Before long 15 - 20 of Mick’s new comrades decided to ‘blitz’ high profile venues in Mayfair, reclaiming taxi ranks that had been overrun by Private Hire and valet parking. 

At this point, the moniker Mayfair Mob was coined.

In March, Peter Stringfellow contacted the Mayfair Mob and hastily arranged a meeting involving Deputy Mayor Isabell Dedring, Head of TfL Compliance Steve Burton, MM and Peter Stringfellow. 

There were also subsequent meetings with Tessa Jowell MP, Green Party candidate for the next London Mayoral election Sian Berry and Chief Superintendent Matt Bell of TfL Compliance.

Success followed quickly; word got around, more drivers joined and rooms were created on Twitter for instant communications. Hakkasan at Bruton Street even shut down their PH satellite office due to the attentions of the MM. Work was being won back from PH due to constant use of ranks by taxis and also by creating a permanent presence.

The Mayfair Mob are not vigilantes and don't indulge in any illegalities. They are legally proactive and their efforts eventually persuaded the ‘powers that be’ to grant new ranks on Hakkasan and Novikov at Berkeley Street and an agreement to extend the rank at Forge in Cornhill for four taxis. 

TfL have now agreed to fund marshals for Novikov and Fodge at weekends.

Other Mayfair Mob initiatives are to communicate with councils, MPs and Mayoral candidates. They are also planning to visit Knowledge schools to enlighten students to the etiquette of our trade and the importance of communication skills. 

They also intend becoming involved with police training in regard to cab law.

Ultimately, it’s a numbers game and there is strength in numbers. The more drivers coming on board, the easier the ranks will be to hold and progress to further areas.

Mick, affectionately known as The General, feels that our trade has to adapt to how the game has changed if we are to survive. The key is education for old and new alike. We are a service industry and need to act and look accordingly. Mick responded to my inquiry regarding the ethos of the Mayfair Mob with: 

"Doom and gloomers talk the trade down. MM talks our trade up. We don't do negatives and don’t know the word surrender!”

MM Scab Busters meet once a month, (new venue and time to be announced). 

In Mick’s own words: 

“There's no hierarchy, no egos and no politics. As long as we breathe, the cab trade shall never die.”

When you think the Mayfair Mob have only been in existence for barely 8 months, what they've achieved thus far has been miraculous!

Marc Turner 

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Uber Driver Touting Levels Reach Record Levels. Calls For Internal Investigation At LTPH.

One thing about working alongside the dedicated drivers of the Mayfair Mob, sitting outside night venues, you get to see exactly what's going down in regards to touts and they way they operate. 

Obviously you have the old fashioned blatant touts who stand outside the door, relaxed in the knowledge they have more chance winning the lottery than being arrested for touting. Alongside the touts are the regular pimps and drug pushers, working in conjunction with door staff. 

It's the same faces turning up night after night and every now and then you catch a glimpse of the old hand shake, the kind drug dealers are keen on to transfer little packages.  Many of the touts, licensed and unlicensed operate class A drug delivery services to clubs...illegal yes, but it's what the public want!

Then there are the clip board johnnies who do the touting for the drivers, walking passengers up to cars illegally plying for hire outside venues, under a semi legal cloak of the STaN agendas satellite office licence. 

But almost unnoticed is the new fashion of illegally plying for hire, using fog lights to show out to prospective customers that the car parked by the roadside is indeed available for immediate hire.

This is now the favoured modus operandi of the Uber driver. As we know, to creat a situation where there is more demand than availability, drivers are encouraged to switch off their app. The fact that there is a perceived shortage of cars, results in a surge in rate. 

So what do the drivers do while they are sitting around with their app turned off....well, according to their drivers forum, they tout. All their regular customers are informed that if there is surge pricing in your area, walk along the street waving your smart phone and a vacant driver will flash you with his fog lights. 

The Mayfair Mob team see this quite clearly going down, mostly over the weekends.

Unfortunately, the TfL operatives involved in Operation Neon seem to be blind to this practise. 

Drivers are constantly complaining to the supposed "monitored" site on Twitter (@TfLTPH).

But as we've come to expect TfL account operators are complacent and just make excuses for the actions of the Uber drivers.

It's time that the police were bought in to LTPH to carry out an internal affairs style investigation. 

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