As We Predicted...Its An Uber Whitewash. TfL Press Release On New PH Regulations

TfL press release…

Following a review of private hire regulations in London, including a hugely successful public consultation that attracted over 16,000 responses, Transport for London (TfL) has today set out proposals to modernise the Capital’s private hire industry.  The measures, which will be put to the TfL Board for approval in March, will enhance standards of safety and customer service in light of the impact of new technology and the rising numbers of private hire vehicles in London.  Key proposals include:

• A formal English language requirement for drivers.
• Guaranteed fare estimates for customers in advance of their journey.
• The provision of driver and vehicle details to customers, including a photo of the driver, before the start of each journey.
• Private hire operators to ensure that customers can speak to someone in the event of a problem with their journey.
• Even more robust ‘hire and reward’ insurance requirements.
• Improved record keeping and real-time provision of driver and vehicle information to TfL to make enforcement even easier and more effective.

Welcome advances in technology and new business models have fundamentally changed the way in which the private hire industry operates in London – giving customers greater choice and convenience. These changes have also led to unprecedented growth in the numbers of drivers and vehicles.  The number of private hire drivers has increased from 59,000 in 2009/10 to more than 95,000 today.  This has contributed to wider challenges for London such as growing traffic congestion, illegal parking and areas of poor air quality.

In discussions with central Government, the Mayor has been pushing for legislation to enable TfL to restrict overall numbers of private hire drivers and vehicles.  The Mayor believes that more must be done to address the congestion and air quality impacts of increasing numbers of private hire vehicles, which now outnumber taxis in central London during the day.  Whilst the Government has been reluctant to pursue such legislation, the Mayor has asked TfL to investigate the impact and feasibility of removing the Congestion Charge exemption for private hire vehicles in central London to tackle pollution and reduce congestion*. TfL estimates that the number of private hire vehicles circulating within the central London Congestion Charge zone has increased by over 50 per cent in the last two years.  This means that 1 in 10 vehicles entering the zone is now a private hire vehicle.

In addition the Mayor has secured a commitment to progress separate legislation to enable TfL to regulate pedicabs, helping to tackle fare abuses prevalent among some pedicab drivers, whilst tackling the congestion they cause in central London, particularly in the evenings.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “New technology has revolutionised the private hire industry in recent years, bringing with it quantum leaps in terms of faster, better and cheaper services for customers.  However it has also meant a rapid increase in the number of private hire vehicles on our streets, an increase that is responsible for causing congestion and has the potential to worsen air quality in central London. Private hire vehicles now represent over 10 per cent of vehicles entering the Congestion Charging zone on a daily basis and I have asked TfL to investigate the impact and feasibility of removing the Congestion Charging exemption for private hire vehicles with a view to cutting congestion in central London. I am also delighted to have secured a commitment from the Government  to take forward new legislation that will finally enable us to regulate the pedicab industry that has operated free of any real authority for far too long.”

In addition, and subject to approval by the TfL Board, TfL will alter the structure of licence fees paid by operators of different sizes to better reflect the costs of compliance and enforcement activity.  This will provide further financial incentive for operators to maximise the efficiency of their operations and minimise the number of vehicles they use across London as a whole.

Garrett Emmerson, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer for Surface Transport, said “Londoners have given a very clear indication of how they would like us to shape the regulation of the private hire industry to deliver improved safety and customer service.  We had an overwhelming response to the consultation with 16,000 responses and all of the proposals we are taking forward received majority support. We also discussed the proposals in detail with the trade over several months. The final package includes formal English language requirements for drivers, guaranteed fares quotes for customers before their journeys, easier process for customers to complain if they need to, and more information given to customers about the car they are about to get into. This will create the environment for a flourishing private hire industry and wide choice for customers alongside London’s iconic and world-class taxi service.”

In total, TfL proposes to take forward 13 of the proposals as set out in the public consultation and a further five amended proposals.  Three proposals will be investigated further before decisions are taken.  The following ideas will not be taken forward:

• Operators having to provide booking confirmation details to passengers at least five minutes prior to the journey commencing.
• Operators having to offer the ability to pre-book up to seven days in advance.
• Operators  being prohibited from showing vehicles as available for immediate hire, either visibly, for example by signage on the street, or virtually, for example via an app.
• Private hire drivers only being able to be registered to a single operator at any time.

TfL will now undertake a further four-week regulatory impact assessment consultation on proposed changes to private hire regulations.  The results will be put to the TfL Board with final decisions being taken at the Board’s meeting on 17 March.

Given that technology is continuing to evolve at such a rapid pace, further changes to the private hire regulations are likely to be needed in the near future. Therefore, TfL will keep the regulations under review to ensure that they keep pace with the changing industry and support a modern and thriving trade.

In addition to these new measures, the Mayor and TfL are already taking action to improve service and safety standards in the trade, including:

• Introducing an enhanced topographical test for new private hire drivers, requiring drivers to demonstrate enhanced map reading abilities and English language comprehension.
• Introducing a new complaints system so that customers can contact TfL if they have received poor service from a private hire company or driver.
• Introducing mandatory disability equality training and other improved training for drivers.

*Any change to the exemption for private hire vehicles would require a variation to the Congestion Charging Scheme Order which is subject to statutory consultation requirements.

ENDS

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Hacked Uber accounts worth more than stolen credit cards.

Cybercriminals don't care that much about your credit card number anymore. 

Uber, PayPal and even Netflix accounts have become much more valuable to criminals, as evidenced by the price these stolen identifiers now fetch on the so-called "deep Web," according to security company Trend Micro.

The price of stolen Uber account information on underground marketplaces such as the dark web, has risen to an average of $3.78 per account, while personally identifiable information (PII) has come down from $4 to just $1per record over the past year -according to data compiled by Trend Micro for CNBC last week. 

(PII includes any information that can be used to commit identity fraud, like Social Security numbers or date of birth and varies in price depending on the specific information for sale.) 

So how can a criminal make best use of a stolen Uber account? 

The hacked credentials can either be used to build a fuller picture of a victim for identity theft, or they can be used to charge phantom rides, experts said. A phantom ride is when a criminal sets up a fake driver account, and charges nonexistent rides to stolen accounts. 

Also found for sale are the following accounts, at these average prices per account; 

• PayPal — with a guaranteed $500 balance — ($6.43), 

• Facebook ($3.02), 

• Google Voice (97 cents)

• Netflix (76 cents). 

By contrast, U.S. issued credit card credentials, sold in bundles, were listed for no more than 22 cents each. 

"It's an incredible underground ecosystem. 

There is a high level of competition for these criminal buyers and there are a lot of different types of forums. It's incredibly diverse, but incredibly mature," said Ed Cabrera, vice president of cybersecurity strategy.

"They are doing their own market research on where they can find the data that's most valuable in the criminal underground and they develop their attacks accordingly," he said. The company issued a report on the phenomenon last October. 

Hackers are even advertising stolen data on YouTube to buy.

A quick search for tweets with the hashtag #uberaccounthacked reveals a number of complaints related to "ghost rides," in which users claim their Uber accounts have been charged for rides they did not take. These are often in far flung locations across the globe. 

"This also highlights the need of these providers to be more cognizant of sudden changes in the accounts' behavior," said Forrester research analyst Andras Cser. "If a user suddenly takes a cross country ride versus following their usual movements, that should spark an alert." 

"On the other hand, that's incredibly hard — maybe I am traveling, or my wife is using my account," he said. 

The reason why credit cards are worth less to crooks at this point is because banks and credit card issuers have developed more sophisticated fraud detection systems, rending stolen cards worthless very quickly, said Cser.

The biggest threats to your data while traveling

Tech companies are aware of the threat, and many (including Uber) employ teams to monitor accounts for strange activity, alerting users when accounts may have been compromised. They also encourage users to adopt additional security measures and use different passwords for different accounts. 

In some markets, Uber is testing its version of two-step authentication, so when a user logs on from an unknown device, they are prompted to enter additional credentials. The company plans to roll this out in other markets soon.

Facebook advises users to turn on its version of two-factor authentication called login approvals  and to run a security checkup, a tool that walks users through security options to add extra account protection.

"We use a variety of methods to detect and prevent compromised accounts, including those that sometimes appear on these types of forums, and we've developed tools to help people secure their accounts in just a few steps," a Facebook spokesperson told CNBC.

Netflix encourages concerned users to contact customer service and has posted user guidelines for keeping accounts secure.

"Netflix employs numerous tactics to prevent and detect fraudulent activity," a Netflix representattive told CNBC. "We also encourage people to avoid third parties making claims about lifetime accounts. While this is a limited issue that occasionally generates press, members who want to check the security of their account can contact customer service."

The fact that people often use the same password across multiple accounts makes security particularly challenging. Experts say companies should employ to new technology to offer users better protection from hackers. 

"The time has come to move away from passwords. They should be looking at behavioral biometrics solutions to authenticate users — how the user actually behaves, how they hold a phone, how big their fingers are and how hard they press the touch screen," said Cser.

Source : CBNC 

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Power to the people of Islington, after Caledonian Road Station closure is withdrawn.

              Power to the people of Islington.

It seems TfL have bottled it, after being threatened with legal action.

There always was a simple solution...but as we all know, 

TfL don't do simple solutions.

Gareth Powell, Director of Strategy for London Underground, said: 
“In light of points raised by Islington council, we’re reconsidering how we can refurbish lifts at Caledonian Road safely and with as little disruption as possible for local people. Two public bodies being involved in litigation on this issue would be a waste of public money, which we obviously want to avoid. We’re all in agreement that the lifts need to be refurbished and that when this happens everyone will benefit from a new, more reliable service. We’ll be discussing our plans with Islington to find the best solution.”

This from the Islington Gazette:

Transport for London (TfL) this morning backtracked on plans to shut Caledonian Road Underground Station for eight months.

It comes after huge opposition to the transport authority’s proposal to close it for lift repairs from March.

A petition, launched in October, when the plans were first announced, has reached 7,500 signatures.

And earlier this month, Islington Council launched legal action against TfL, citing impact on disabled people and claiming the station’s two 30-year-old lifts could be repaired one at a time - allowing it to stay open.

TfL withdrew its March closure plans after saying it would be a waste of public money to fight the council’s legal action. It will now work with the council to find a solution.

Nigel Scott, 65, is the man who set up the popular petition. He works for the Shingles Support Society in North Road, near to the Piccadilly line station, and said this morning: “This is fantastic news. What we have always said is that this station is too important to close - both socially and economically. TfL never factored that in.

“The public showed its feeling against this. Islington Council also went for it, and that combination has been too much for TfL. It’s clear they hadn’t thought it through properly, and hadn’t anticipated this level of opposition. I hope they can now work it out.”

Gareth Powell, director of strategy for London Underground, said: “In light of points raised by Islington Council, we’re reconsidering how we can refurbish lifts at Caledonian Road safely and with as little disruption as possible for local people.

“Two public bodies being involved in litigation on this issue would be a waste of public money, which we obviously want to avoid.

“We’re all in agreement that the lifts need to be refurbished and that when this happens everyone will benefit from a new, more reliable service. We’ll be discussing our plans with Islington to find the best solution.”

Islington had accepted TfL’s request to stop the legal action after it offered to pay the council’s legal costs so far.

Cllr Claudia Webbe, executive member for environment and transport, said: “It’s clear that both TfL and the council would much prefer to resolve this dispute amicably, if possible, and we hope that TfL will deliver the improvements the station needs by replacing the lifts one after the other and keeping the station open.”

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Uber Can't Operate Under New Regulation Safeguards In Belfast.

Global minicab operator Uber has said it would have to "re-evaluate its business" in Belfast if new laws on taxi regulation were to be introduced.

Apparently if Uber are forced to work within the framework of the new legislated regulations, their current business model would be unworkable!

The Assembly is considering introducing six new rules for owning and operating taxis (Public/Private) in Northern Ireland.

Among the changes, as a safeguard against passengers being overcharged, will be the introduction of taxi meters and printers in all vehicles, which would be inspected, tested and sealed by Department of the Environment (DoE) officials.

If passed, the measures will come into force in May.

Kieran Harte, general manager for Uber Belfast, said: "Since launching in Belfast just over a month ago, we have been overwhelmed by the reaction of both riders and professional drivers wanting to sign up.

"The new rules, if introduced, would be a huge step backwards and would force us to re-evaluate our business in the city.

"Forcing drivers to install unnecessary technology - like taxi meters and receipt printers - stop the sector creating new jobs and increase prices for consumers."

A spokesman for Belfast Public Taxis said, the fitting of meters and printers would put a complete end to the unfair system of Uber surges. Complaints of passenger having to pay up to 8 times the normal fare, were made over the New Years Eve period.

When asked if the changes would mean Uber, which has only operated in Belfast for a month, would pull out of the market here, Uber's spokesperson added: "We would like to stay, but we would have to make sure we could have a viable business with the new rules."

The new changes will also allow private hire vehicles to ply for trade off the street at certain times - something which they are currently prohibited from doing.

The mobile phone app, available on both Android and iPhones, works on a cashless system - with users signing up with a bank card - charged for each journey automatically on arrival at their destination.

They also receive a picture of their driver, their car and details before its arrival, although ther have been many complaints that the driver who turns up is not the one in the picture.

Drivers, are supposed to be fully licenced but there have been reports of drivers "lending their phones to friends and family. Also there is a question mark over whether Ubers drivers have full hire and reward insurance. 

Uber insist drivers ar not employees but are instead partners, deciding when they want to work, with the operator taking a massive 25% of all their fares.

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Letter To Editor : Response To PH Consultation Question 2... By Will Grozier.

Jim please find below, part of my response to the Private Hire consultation.

PRIVATE HIRE OPERATORS

2. Do you agree with our proposal for a time delay between journey booking and commencement?

No

If you don’t agree, please explain why. :

This proposal will do nothing to re-establish a very necessary differential between taxis and private hire. The situation at present is that there is no appreciable division between taxis and private hire as the taxi trade has effectively been de-regulated by the licensing of Uber who operate an immediate demand service.

In the absence of any current plans for Parliamentary action to re-calibrate the cab industry on a fair and equitable basis this review may be the only opportunity to prevent the taxi trade from being totally subsumed in the Tsunami of Uber expansion.

This un-precendented growth has led to severe congestion at many places in London, Soho and the West End generally suffer from gridlock at times and at other locations such as St Pancras and Victoria stations, amongst many, traffic is impeded by the double parking and illegal stopping that has become the hallmark of the App driven on demand market.

A far more constructive approach would be to limit access to the Congestion Charge Zone only to PHV drivers engaged in taking passengers into the Zone or those allocated a booking to pick up. This restriction should apply 24/7 as a 30 fold plus and rising increase in PHV movements in the CCZ cannot be sustained without gridlock of third world proportions becoming a daily ( and nightly ) occurence.

Empty PHV's should be obliged to leave the CCZ and park in an adjacent Zone.

For the purposes of this example I will use the existing Underground Zoning areas although this might not be wholly appropriate if further consideration is given to a plan which might be called 'Concentric Displacement'.

In this model drivers parked in Zone 1 but outside the Congestion Charge area could be allocated a job in the CC area or in Zone 2 but not in Zone 1. Similarly drivers parked in Zone 2 would qualify for work generated in Zone 1 inc the CC area and Zone 3 and so on.

An alternative to this would be the creation of an individual 'exclusion zone' around each vehicle in which no job could be allocated, what that radius that might be is a subject for further consideration but overall this measure would prevent opportunistic positioning by drivers as noted above, loitering around known hotspots and creating unnecessary congestion and curb the behavior of the public to wave an illuminated smartphone at traffic and then engage in the ordering process with the first driver to stop.

This would prevent the tendency of PHV drivers to congregate or cluster close to where work is known to originate - in the case of Heathrow the area could modeled on the Local Journey return area as presently applied to taxi hirings from the ranks, roughly an area bounded by the M25, A3, NCR & A40 although a somewhat smaller zone might be appropriate

More centrally the writer has experienced considerable difficulty removing Uber cars from taxi ranks, the Shepherds Bush Taxi Rank at night it has become an ongoing problem.

In the proposal the concern that would be passengers might be 'unecessarily inconvenienced' is mention twice in a short text. There is no need for anyone to be inconvenienced by this solution - if an immediate service is required then a licensed taxi becomes the default service to access. If an alternative is sought then the customer has the option to prebook a car for a specific time or wait for the response time advised by the operator.

A booking would be allocated to the driver in the form of a pickup location but with no other detail, once in position the name and contact details would be revealed at the booked time and similarly the vehicle registration number and driver contact information released to the passenger.

In addition drivers must be stationary when being allocated a booking as the current practice of drivers being distracted by their mobile phone whilst moving is unsafe and has surely been the trigger for the many accidents involving Uber Prius vehicles, indeed TfL's own PR Dept has issued warnings to motorists of the perils of such action.

A time delay whether it be 5 or 15mins will be perceived as a clumsy and partisan measure by TfL to obstruct Uber. 

A far more elegant solution would be to impose the above measures on the wholly justifiable grounds of combatting unacceptable levels of congestion in the CCZ and the prevention of unacceptable clustering around points of known demand in other places.- that the necessary time delay needed by the licensed taxi sector to re-establish some significant differential arises as a by-product of this instrument is a fortunate serendipity.

Summary;

1)  No PHV's allowed in CCZ 24/7 unless POB, empty PHV's in the CCZ will be unable to accept hirings until outside zone.

2)  PHV's not to be allocated work whilst moving.

3)  Individual 'exclusion zone' or 'proximity buffer' to prevent access to hirings within sight of the driver to prevent opportunistic plying for hire.

4)  All above requirements to be driven by App modification, solution should be self policing.

 The current Alice in Wonderland environment where a 'booking' is legerdemain for an immediate hiring and a 'Meter' is not a Meter needs to be returned to reality. 

Private Hire is or should be a 'Private' contractual arrangement between 2 parties whereby a service is provided for an agreed price.

A price should be quoted on the basis of the shortest map route and take into account traffic loadings as currently available on App driven mapping.

This would be binding on the driver and at a stroke prevent the abuse we have all seen of Uber drivers taking wildly circuitous routes and charging outrageous fares to the dismay of deceived passengers who then have no resort to effective complaint.

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Taxi Regulator Responds Over Cab Company Bankruptcy

San Francisco’s largest taxi company (Yellow Cabs) may soon declare bankruptcy. 

Yellow Cab Co-Op’s financial move has set off alarms across the industry, The City’s taxi regulator is finally weighing in. 

Kate Toran is head of taxi services at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which regulates cabs in San Francisco. 

Firstly she said, she wanted to clarify that Yellow Cab’s bankruptcy is a Chapter 11, which is a restructuring to shed debts, but not necessarily to close. It had been initially reported that the company would close, as many news outlets reporting the story implied Yellow Cab was “doomed.”

Although many customers have moved over to ride-sharing App's such as Uber and Lyft, according to Toran there’s still a demand for taxi service in San Francisco, countering assertions in the national news. 

When asked for numbers to demonstrate that, she said Uber and Lyft historically do not share numbers in a public fashion with their regulators, the California Public Utilities Commission. Without a point of comparison, she said, people may make mistaken conclusions about the taxi industry’s health.

“Information they provide is under seal,” Toran said, of Uber and Lyft. 

If a taxi company were to close, Toran said one concern for the SFMTA would be ensuring taxi medallion holders transfer those medallions elsewhere. A medallion is a license to operate for a cab driver, some of which are sold by the SFMTA to cabbies for $250,000.

“The main concern is making sure those medallion holders are placed at other companies, Toran said. 

Also, she said preserving drivers’ records to an entity where they could be accessed would be another priority, after a taxi company closes. Among these records would be waybills, which are taxi drivers’ work history often used when trying to purchase or transfer a medallion. 

Toran said “it's also important to point out the taxi industry is trying to innovate and the Flywheel app is an example of that. The app works similarly to Uber and Lyft, but for taxis".

“It’s a game changer in a lot of ways,” she said.

Flywheel’s strength lies in combining the might of the entire taxi industry under one app, she said. Some taxi apps, by contrast, only hail cabs from one particular cab company. YoTaxi, for instance, only works with Yellow Cab. 

“My perspective,” she said, is “another thing the industry should do is stop being fragmented, shifting from each company focusing on its self-interest to taxis as a whole.”

That, she said, is the way for taxis to innovate in the new tech age

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The Time Has Come For Every Taxi Driver To Step Forward And Show Support For Your Trades Future.

   

As you may have heard "Action For Cabbies" has been set up by #SaveTaxi to raise awareness and funds for the campaign to seek a Judicial Review against TFL to have Ubers operating licence in London revoked. 

You have been given the voice to be heard and now we need each and every one of you to support this campaign and contribute financially to make this work. 

The time for talk is over - the time for action is NOW. 

Yes times are hard for us all, but this may be our only chance to properly fight this, so grab it with both hands, it's now or never!! 
Here is the link to make your donation 

>CLICK HERE<

It's your future, and it's now in your hands

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