So, You Thought The Cycle Super Highway Was Introduced For Safety Reasons...Well Think Again!

"Strava Segment"...A 34.5mph Sprint along the Milbank.

Speeding cyclists are putting pedestrians at risk in London. Just do an internet search for “Strava” (the name of just one of several GPSbased performance monitoring apps), “segment” and then a road name.

For example, “Strava segment Millbank” (below) reveals a map, giving a start and finish point. 

On site statistics show there have been some 278,240 attempts to compete, by 34,638 different cyclists, along this section of Embankment. 

It also lists the fastest male and female riders on this stretch. 

The site also gives a league table the fastest male and female riders, competing along the Milbank (north). 

Below are the top three males in first equal first position. As you can see, they have total disregard of the 30mph limit along the Milbank, recording speeds of up to 35mph, which is worrying as there is a round-about three quarters of the way along the rout. 

Many people enjoy cycling in London, but compeditive urban road racing is highly dangerous. It's hardly surprising pedestrians and motorists are worried about these lycra clad racers. 

And this is just one of many such apps.

Virtually every road of interest to cyclists now has a "Segment", enabling competitive racing to take place at any time.

Even more worrying are the roads with 20mph speed limits, where league tables show cyclist almost reaching 40mph (an instant ban for a motorist).

Every day, thousands of cyclists are using this app to race or record personal bests, not just on roads, but also on paths, paved areas and off road tracks, with complete disregard for others.

   

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/1PerhFx
via IFTTT

Two Females, Thrown Out Of Uber Car In London- For Kissing

A London Uber driver has been suspended after allegedly throwing a lesbian couple out of his car for kissing.

The minicab firm confirmed it had contacted the woman after she posted on social media and banned the driver from taking jobs while it looked into the allegations.

On Monday night the woman, who asked not to be named, tweeted: “Disgusting aggressive driver said he ‘did not allow’ my girlfriend and I to kiss in the back of his car and then proceeded to pull his car over and ask us to get out when we refused to comply.

“When told we would report him, he didn’t seem in the least bit bothered so please do advise how you would deal with this,” she asked Uber’s support team.

In a statement, Uber insisted-even though it has a reputation for this type of behaviour-“ we celebrate diversity and do not tolerate any form of discrimination whatsoever”.

A spokesman said: “We have been in contact with this rider to offer our full support and find out exactly what happened.”

Last year two gay couples made a complaint after being kicked out of their Uber car onto the capital’s streets for public displays of affection.

In January Corey Watts and Jordan Sloat said they were asked to leave an Uber car near Covent Garden after “kissing”.

Later in the year, Sam Simons, 36, claimed he and friend Santiago Figeuroa were booted out of a car after sharing a “peck on the lips”.

Uber pledged to investigate both these incidents and said it had suspended the drivers in each case, but was not immediately able to confirm the long-term outcome of either investigation when asked on earlier today.

   UBER: into the future with new technology?

              Or, regressing to a bygone age!

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/1Oxvtno
via IFTTT

Important message to all GETT drivers....from Glen Alutto

Around 5 weeks ago the format of your statements changed (first one 30th november).

You had the summary on the first sheet and details of your jobs on the 2nd sheet.

The difference was on the second page when they added the column showing your fees paid for each job, i.e. 10 % max £4.00. 

If anyone did an invite to Gett from that change, you will see on the first page (summary) the invite to Gett are shown as free, but if you then look at the 2nd page you will see for all invites you're actually charged the fee.

Although its slightly complicated if you add up all the fees and compare with the total fees deducted you have been charged for ALL invites to Gett.

I first noticed this before christmas, and worked out that for 20 invites I had been charged £56.02 in fees! 

Several e mails from the 23rd December up until today, have now resulted in the head of driver services admitting this is an error in the system and have refunded me. 

However, Gett have not told me that they will inform every driver of their accounting errors, so all drivers please check your statements and make a claim to Gett for the overcharging on Invite to Gett jobs.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/1VEzurs
via IFTTT

Uber's New Year's Greedfest Sees Tens Of Thousands Deleting The App.

Uber's rapidly expanding its ride-hailing operations across the globe seems to have hit a major hurdle.

But here in Frankfurt's city of 690,000 citizens, slightly less than the population of Uber's hometown of San Francisco, the company recently did something unusual: It retreated.

In early November, Uber shut down its small office in Frankfurt’s centuries-old city centre, after just 18 months of operation. Mothballing the online platform that had let people hail rides through a smartphone app. 

The pullback was spurred in part by drivers like Hasan Kurt, the owner of a local cab business, who had refused to work with the American service.

With more than 20 years of experience as an operator, Mr. Kurt said he disliked how Uber barreled into Frankfurt in early 2014, using primarily unlicensed drivers who had not passed the same exams and health checks required of licensed drivers. That low-cost service, UberPop, which is similar to UberX in London, faced legal challenges and was eventually outlawed by German regulators last March.

Uber then tried to recruit licensed Taxi operators like Mr. Kurt to build its service within the letter of the law. But Mr. Kurt would not budge.

"It's not part of the German culture to do something like what Uber did," said the bespectacled 45-year-old over, a cup of tea during a break in his busy holiday schedule. "We don't like it, the government doesn't like it, and our customers don't like it."

Uber's withdrawal from Frankfurt is just one of a multitude of retreats by the company across Europe in recent months.

In November, the ride-hailing service also pulled out of Hamburg and Düsseldorf after less than two years of operating in each of those German cities.

Also, in Amsterdam, Uber recently stopped offering UberPop. 

New Year's Greed

Over the weekend, the company has been subjected to a deluge of criticism and complaint as reports of price surges up to as much as x8.9 were recorded during the New Years Eve celebrations. 

In Perth, Western Australia, one customer complained he was charged $480 for a 50klm journey usually costing less than $55. 

In London there were reports of Uber customers deleting the app in their thousands. Many of these taking up the black Taxi app, Hailo. 

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/22IHaOl
via IFTTT

Councillor says 10 minute parking 'grace' period at St Pancras puts public in danger and is causing chaos

Back in August 2015, Councillor Sian Berry supported the United Cabbies Group's call on Camden Council to use terrorism clauses in legislation to enforce its two minute waiting period restriction for drop-offs at St Pancras station. 

  

In a dossier submitted to the council, Cllr Berry included photographic evidence from black cab drivers showing the restricted bays on Pancras Road filled throughout the day with mini cabs waiting for 'e-hails' from apps such as Uber. 

In the wake of what's been happening in Paris and Brussels and the current security alert pointing to an imminent terrorist attack, you would have thought Camden Council, in league with the British Transport Police would be on the case with the current abuse of the parking regulations outside one of the biggest international terminus in Europe. 

Unfortunately, it looks like it will take an atrocity to wake these people up.

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/1RZxdYR
via IFTTT

Spartacus's New Year Resolutions

Dear Taxi Leaks readers, I would like to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year. 

As we stand on the threshold of what could be our biggest battle for survive yet, these five resolutions must be at the top of everyone's list:

1. Trade orgs and unions to hold an immediate council of war. All orgs, no matter how small, must be invited.

2. Radio Circuits and Apps to consolidate to face the threat from ehailing illegality. We have the technology.

3. Every Taxi Driver to meet their M.P, Local Cllrs and GLA member to explain the issues.

4. We demand The Mayoral Candidates issue their cab trade manifestos

5. All drivers take cards, work ranks and act the part as the world's best Taxi service.

The time has come, the enemy is at the gate, divided we fall!

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/1RlrY4m
via IFTTT

Oyster card glitch costs Transport for London £250,000 in a single morning

An Oyster card glitch meant that Transport for London (TfL) lost approximately £250,000 in just one morning. 

The problem was linked to software problems relating to a fare hike of 1.1% being applied to Oyster cards.   

The BBC reported that around 100,000 free journeys are believed to have been made between 04:00 and 10:00, which cost TfL a quarter of a million pounds.

Barriers at many underground stations were left open, as commuters enjoyed a rare free journey on the network.

The fault was met with joy from commuters, who expressed their happiness on social media.

“Thanks @TfL,” wrote one passenger on Twitter. “I was expecting to pay the new 2nd of Jan fares in the tube but the whole oyster ticketing system is down! Free journey for me!”

“Time to use the tube. The Oyster system is down and everyone is travelling free!” another person encouraged.

Buses were also affected, with some drivers waving through passengers showing Oyster cards.

However, contactless debit cards were still working properly.

A spokesperson for TfL said: "This morning's technical issue with our Oyster Card readers has been resolved. Customers should now touch in and out as normal. Anyone charged a maximum fare due to this issue will get an automatic refund credited to their Oyster card early next week. We apologise for this disruption."

from Taxi Leaks http://ift.tt/1mxoOyB
via IFTTT