Uber boss denies taxi driver claims that local drivers will be out of work if ride share hits Irish cities

THE general manager of Uber in Ireland has denied claims that local taxi drivers will be out of work if the firm brings ride-sharing to the city.

Jude Williams of Xpert-Treaty Cabs based in Davis Street was speaking on RTE’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, and said if Uber was allowed to operate a ride-sharing service in Limerick – allowing regular drivers to pick up passengers for a fee, it could see 20,000 drivers out of work.

But Kieran Harte, rejected this claim, saying: “There are no numbers I have seen that taxi numbers, as the gentleman said, are falling down in matters of weeks. We have been in Los Angeles for five years now, and the ground transportation market has grown by 500% there. Taxis have only felt an impact of less than 10% there.”

“It is hardly controversial,” he added. “It is used if someone who owns a car, and wishes to drive their fellow citizen from point A to point B.”

Uber is well on the way to creating 300 new jobs in Limerick, with the setting up of its ‘centre of excellence’ in Thomas Street, servicing Europe, the Middle-East and Africa.

But Mr Williams said: “If they do come up with the jobs, it’s great news. But they could be putting 20,000 taxis out of work. If they work the way they work in the United States, they will wipe out the taxi industry within weeks, rather than months.”

Uber currently does not operate a ride-sharing service in Ireland – only partnering with some taxi drivers in Dublin.

But Mr Harte says it is something he would love to see here, confirming the firm is in debate with both government, and local authorities.

He also disclosed workers at Uber’s new centre of excellence in Limerick can earn from €30,000 upwards.

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Peter Hendy's Network Rail Charging Taxi Drivers 40p To Access Station Rank With New Smarter Dress Code.

The RMT union had been campaigning against what it claims were increased costs for taxi drivers at the newly-redeveloped station

Taxi drivers are claiming a victory after charges of up to £1,000 a year to serve Birmingham New Street were axed (For Now).

The RMT union had been campaigning against what it claims were increased costs for taxi drivers at the newly-redeveloped station.

However, they are celebrating after Peter Hendy's Network Rail announced it would not be introducing the charges, until after 2017 at least.

Network Rail said the charges were linked to pollution levels but the RMT said they were part of wider rows between drivers and the company in charge of New Street which left taxis unable to access the station.

The RMT said, in a statement: “Acknowledging that the fees that it was trying to charge hard pressed taxi drivers were excessive, Network Rail has been forced to scrap its plans. The union has ensured that no additional fees will be payable by drivers at least until the second half of 2017 and that any additional fees will be by consent following a full consultation.”

The union said a memorandum of understanding has been signed by the union and Network Rail to clarify the relationship in the future.

Mick Cash, RMT general secretary, said: “Network Rail treated taxi drivers with contempt by attempting to simply notify drivers of dramatically new and obviously unreasonable terms. Further, it failed to meaningfully consult with the union - its dictatorial conduct being so unreasonable that it drew criticism from Birmingham City councillors and MPs.

“We pay testament to the solidarity that drivers showed, standing together to face down Network Rail. Having successfully defended our members in Birmingham, we will be replicating our action in other cities including Leicester, where drivers are also being hounded – in their case by an out of control mayor.”

However, in response, a Network Rail spokesperson said: “In the short term, Network Rail has put on hold the introduction of a clean-air taxi charging system, scaled according to how polluting each vehicle is. In the future we will continue consultation to introduce this charge as part of Birmingham City Council’s ‘Clean Air Zone’ policy in the city centre.

“Taxi drivers will continue to pay 40p per visit to cover maintenance costs of the facility and a new smart dress code has been introduced to help improve people’s first impressions of the city.”

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Whitewash From Whitehall And BS From TfL.

So let's get this straight...

David Cameron's best mate Rachel Whetstone works for Uber, her husband worked on Cameron's political campaign. George Osborn told our Tory Mayor Boris Johnson to "Leave Uber Alone" by the way he is mates with Rachel Whetstone also, even traveled the states with her and the Cameron's.

George Osborn allowed Google to pay peanuts of what they owe in UK corporation tax, he then gets flown out to the Google sponsored Super Bowl and enjoy's front row seats all for free and treated like a VIP.

It's been proven there were "Secret Talks" (where NO minutes were taken) between Deputy Mayor Isabel Dedring and Uber. 

Also, it seems our Deputy Mayor Isabel Dedring was part of the Garden Bridge planning stage more importantly WHICH construction company got the garden bridge contract (Arup). It seems she is now going to work for the very company the Mayor's office chose to build the Garden Bridge.

Apparently, Richard De Cani a senior official with TFL involved in awarding the contract to Arup, has now accepted a top position with them also.

              Could this be a bridge too far?

The Cycle Super Highway is an obvious pathway for driverless cars, segregated roads created to keep cyclists from being hit by cars driven autonomously - Maybe even all provided by Google and Uber? It has been proven our government has already invested 20 million in driverless cars.

And how about this:

The major three CC payment equipment suppliers have lost market share to budget new comers PayPal, CabApp and iZettle as more and more drivers start taking card payments. Now TfL want to authorise only equipment that conforms to the big three suppliers in October this year. Drivers will be expected to sign expensive contracts and rental agreements, plus drivers to pay up to 10% payment surcharge as 3% cap is scraped by TfL. 

         Now there's a coincident !!!

Does anyone else feel that the honest working class heroes are being squeezed dry by the privileged few and their mates?

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FOI Request Shows Minicab Rape And Sexual Assaults Through The Roof....But It Must Be Kept Secret.

Reports are coming in from drivers who have done freedom of information requests asking for the amount of serious sexual assaults (including rapes) on customers by Private Hire drivers over the year 2014-15. 

We are being informed that the results of such searches carry a caveat that the results must not be publish in order not to put people off using private hire. 

In 2010, TfL released figures on their website that showed a 54% rise in the number of minicab related rapes and serious sexual assaults carried out by drivers licensed by TfL, bringing the total to 126. 

At the same time, an FOI request showed detection of these attacks resulting in a conviction dropped by 50%, to just 3 convictions.

At that time, there was less than 30,000 PHV drivers. So going by the law of average, using the statistics available to us, last years statistics on rape and sexual assaults would be around 380. 

That's over 1 a day....and that's just the ones that are reported. Back in 2011, we were also told that 84% of victims do not report attacks immediately and that 60% never do. This could mean the actual number of attacks could be as high as 800 or to put it another way 65 a month.

We are now told by LTPH that the number of PH licenses has exceeded 96,000.

If TfL and the Met are worried about the true number of rapes and serious sexual assaults becoming public, because it might put people off using private hire....just how high are the number of attacks......And why are the powers that be, covering this up? 

"Because people may be put off using Private Hire !!!...."

Surely our licensing authority and the Met Police have a duty of care to the public. 

Public safety must 

See our video from 2011. This video was removed from YouTube. We fought hard to get this reinstated. Warning....it's a tough watch.

    

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Chairman Of The United Cabbies Group (UCG) Len Martin, On The CC Mandate.

Legally TfL cannot make anyone take credit without a change in the law.

Ms Chapman said she will change the cab act, well good luck with that, getting a different law for Taxi drivers to every other trade. 

If one of our members (UCG) are reported for refusing to accept cards and TfL try to take ANY disciplinary action, then I have warned her our legal scheme will kick in and they will have a legal battle they cannot win. 

Then the whole thing is going to explode in her face. I warned her but it appears, she knows best.

Our view is: 

"Encourage" yes, 

"Incentivise" yes, 

"Mandate" No.

It was always understood by us, that the ONLY way to mandate it is by Conditions of Fitness, where we would need a fixed terminal. 

Next it would need to be linked to the meter. Choice is then reduced, and prices will rise.

 

And yet TfL continue to bleat on about the free market.

There are so many problems with this issue they haven't thought through....

If It's linked to the meter what happens if little Johnny jams a lolly stick in the machine in the back at 6pm Friday night ?

 

What if it just fails due to a technical fault?

 

Do you get a stop notice?

Liberty have already told us TfL will not win a case if it goes to court.

There are drivers who for whatever reason do not have a bank account (yes that is true). 

You can't be made to have a bank account. 

You may not be allowed a bank account due to some technicality with bancruptcy? 

The United Cabbies Group are NOT anti credit card, we need to encourage drivers to use them voluntairly wherever they can. 

Surely, we can work as a trade to develop a system of front and rear facing signage, once its displayed "NO BROOMING" or maybe another better solution?? 

We are seeing the beginings of how a well intentioned but poorly thought through idea is impacting upon us already.

Personally, I have a hand held Chip and Pin Machine, I have an in cab charger, I have a spare battery and carry a spare till roll. 

I also have an iZettle Pro Device -Which despite all rumours, can print receipts using a star micronics printer- or for the  iPhone, any apple airprint compatible printer

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Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle two lawsuits that say it misled customers about its safety procedures and fees.

About 25 million customers filed the two class-action lawsuits regarding trips made between January 1, 2014 and January 31, 2016.

They attacked Uber for charging a fee of up to $2.30 per trip for what it called industry-leading background checks on potential drivers. But Uber didn't do the kind of fingerprint checks required of taxi drivers.

Under the settlement, Uber also would stop using certain safety-related advertising language and would rename its Safe Ride Fee as a Booking Fee.

A federal judge in San Francisco, where the company is headquartered, must still approve the deal. 

Uber said its technology does provide safety features, such as track trips through GPS and sharing a driver's photo identification and license plate number before the passenger gets into the car. 

'We are glad to put these cases behind us and we will continue to invest in new technology and great customer services so that we can help improve safety in the cities we serve,' Uber said in a statement.

'However no means of transportation can ever be 100 percent safe. Accidents and incidents do happen,' it said. 'That's why it's important to ensure that the language we use to describe safety at Uber is clear and precise.'

Similar lawsuits filed by the district attorneys of San Francisco and Los Angeles are still pending.

Lyft, one of Uber's competitors, agreed in 2014 to pay $250,000 and to stop claiming its background checks were among the best in the industry. 

Governments around the globe are grappling with how to regulate and monitor ride-hailing companies. Taxi and limousine drivers and companies complain that the app makers should be subjected to the same regulations and fees they face around the world.

The ride-booking companies counter that their drivers are private contractors who use their technology to find customers in need of rides.

In France, Uber taxi driver unions have just claimed more than $67 million worth of damages in a lawsuit regarding UberPop, an app launched in Paris in February 2014, which enabled any registered Uber user to act as a driver in their own car. Uber suspended the app in July 2015 

Uber drivers in New York went on strike earlier this month to protest fare cuts after the company cut its rates. They dropped from $2.15 to $1.75 for the standard UberX service and the basic fare went from $3 to $2.

In January last year, Uber announced it would launch a food delivery app in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago Austin, Washington D.C, Houston Dallas, Seattle and Atlanta. UberEATS should be fully available by March, placing Uber in competition with the popular food delivery website Seamless.

Customers attacked Uber for charging a fee of up to $2.30 per trip for industry-leading background checks on potential drivers, even though it didn't conduct the kind of fingerprint checks required of taxi drivers. A federal judge in San Francisco, where the company is headquartered (file picture), must still approve the deal

Source : Daily Mail 

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Repent, For the day of judgment is at hand...by I'm Spartacus.

So the absolute CoF says, and it's coming on the 17th March.

That's the date of the next TfL board meeting at City Hall, when the board should reject out of hand the LTPH PH regulation amendments. I won't go into the detail but there are many defects in the methodology that make it unfit.

What's absolutely clear, the Mayor's appointee (remember not ours folks always remember that) from the taxi trade, is Mr Bob Oddy former general secretary and current deputy GS of the LTDA.

His duty to his fellow cab drivers and members is absolutely clear, he has to act to reject this report and lobby the other members of the board to do so.

So we need to be there on foot and in the chamber, (Don't give them the chance to eject you) and as the famous signal at Trafalgar said 'England expects'.

Whilst your writing this in your diary, put the "All trade meeting" to be hosted by the RMT at Conway Hall 7th March at approx 6.30 in there too.

A big turnout is expected and if you have something to say or want to listen to the issues come along.

Great turnout in Westminster this week, news blackout from the 'impartial' BBC and the usual pathetic sound bites from TfL.

So see you on the 7th and 17th of next month,  for today we await the Uber executives trail verdict in France.

Let's hope they ejectez le clef.

P

Bon Chance.

Je suis Spartacus

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