Uber driver calls for ban of "dangerous" Uber Pool after female passenger is assaulted by two other passengers

An Uber driver has called on the company to stop its "dangerous" UberPool car sharing service after he was forced to call police when a woman was attacked in his cab.

James Farrar, the co-founder of driver organisation United Private Hire Drivers, said the problem arose when he picked up two passengers in Cranley Gardens, Kensington, on Saturday evening, who were unaware they had ordered an UberPool service.

Mr Farrar said the two young men then set upon the female passenger who was already in the car.

He told the Standard: "When I got there these two guys were aggressive, they'd not realised they were in a shared service, the user interface is confusing.

"I took a decision for my safety and the safety of the other passenger that I would not carry them.

"There was an argument, they kicked her in the back and dragged her up against the wall.

"I tried my best to defend her and they set upon me as well.

"The police came, but the main attacker had left the scene. The other guy attempted to leave the scene in a cab but I stopped him."

Another motorist witnessed the incident, which happened at about 9pm, and said he saw the passenger turn on Mr Farrar.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Standard: "I was driving in my car from Gloucester Road towards Fulham Road and when I got to the bend I saw a guy standing in front of a car with his arms up.

"I saw a commotion going on in the road. It was a black guy, a young boy, I couldn't tell if he was punching him, he was wrestling him from behind and threw him on the bonnet.

"I asked what's happened, and he said 'he's just assaulted a girl in my car'.

"I pulled my car up and approached the guy. I asked what was going on and the guy said 'nothing, nothing' and stormed away, but the police caught up with him."

Mr Farrar is now calling on the company to stop the service, and for TfL to impose a ban.

"It absolutely should be stopped," he said. "In fact it should never have started.

"We told TfL this is a dangerous service, it's dangerous to drivers and it's dangerous to the public, especially late at night."

Mr Farrar has also criticised the company for asking its drivers to sign a letter to Val Shawcross, London's Deputy Mayor for Transport, asking her to review taxi regulations and to support Uber's ride sharing service UberPool.

In the letter drafted by Uber, the company claims that UberPool has saved 124 metric tonnes of CO2 due a million passengers choosing to share a mini cab in the past six months.  

However, UPHD believes the figures are misleading as UberPool is drawing passengers away from public transport.

Mr Farrar said: "Uber must stop using the name of drivers to peddle corporate white and green wash. Uber doesn't bother to give a full accounting of its carbon emissions to independent bodies like the Carbon Disclosure Project and is now blatantly spinning the data to create a misleading picture.

"However, if Uber wants to work with drivers to secure worker rights, a cap on TfL licensing of private hire vehicles and to end UberPool and similar ride sharing services, then our door is wide open."

An Uber spokesperson said: “Londoners have chosen to share their journeys by choosing UberPool more than a million times, so we were extremely concerned to hear about this incident. We have been in contact with both the driver and passengers concerned and will assist the police with any investigation.  

“We make very clear to passengers at the time of booking UberPool that they are opting to share their journey. It has proved to be a popular new choice for people in London as it allows them to save money, while also helping to cut emissions and congestion compared to taking the trip alone.

"Drivers can also make more money by having two fare-paying passengers in the car at the same time. 

“Last week Uber gave its partners the option to sign a letter to the new Deputy Mayor for Transport to ensure the voices of private hire drivers in London are heard.

"This was completely optional and almost 9,000 drivers chose to sign that letter which pointed out the vital role they play in keeping London moving - especially at times of day, and in parts of London, where public transport is limited or unavailable.”

Garrett Emmerson, TfL’s chief operating officer for surface transport, said: “I am extremely concerned to hear of this incident and have launched an urgent investigation.

"We will be speaking to the police and to Uber about this particular case and we will confirm that Uber are ensuring passengers are made adequately aware that they are ride sharing with strangers when they book UberPool.”

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said officers had attended but the situation had been resolved amicably and no arrests had been made.

Editorial Comment:

What, no statement from Leon Daniels?

This is serious stuff and the buck sits with Leon as TfL's managing Director of surface transport.

Does he still work for TfL?

Seems to have been a bit quiet lately!

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D-Day For The Taxi Trade. Trevor Merralls Speech, UCG AGM 6th June 2016.

   

The United Cabbies Group have smashed the cartel that has kept the Licensed Taxi trade divided for the past six years and kicked the engagement policy into touch.

Expect now to see the trade media brimming with headlines, exclaiming how 'they've ' done this and how 'they've' done that, complete with customary back slapping and finger pointing, as certain trade figures seek to jump on the bandwagon. 

The usual suspects, presently queuing up for photo opportunities, with smiles like Cheshire cats. It appears that soon as a GLA member or Deputy Mayor stands still, out comes a camera phone.

But now the exclusiveness of the 'United Trade Group' is now a thing of the past.

The UTG orgs agreed to and backed up the policy which saw other trade groups excluded, to the detriment of the trade. If you ignore mistakes of the past, you are at risk of repeating them. 

Two of the three constituent orgs, making up the UTG, accepted terms and conditions of entry, that they themselves didn't meet. Plus we had eight wasted years of the LTDA's General Secretary on the board of TfL. 

'United Trade Group', a cruel joke, or just the worst description ever!

Far from Uniting, the engagement policy kept the trade divided. 

Un-minuted meetings where time after time, our so called representatives continually rolled over to TfL's proposals.

Uprising!

Years of weak representation gave rise to new, more militant groups. Drivers took it upon themselves to take on campaigns, the UTG had long since given up on. 

We've seen the rise of the RMT, UCG, the Mayfair Mob, the Shoreditch Mob, Dads Defending Daughters, plus the 'SaveTaxi' Facebook group (14,500 members).

A victory for common sense.

With the UCG's major victory, the capitulates have had their power base stripped away. 

At last, the engagement policy is dead.

 

For the first time in 6 long years, we see every representative group included in the mayors new open door policy. No more elitism, no more exclusions.

Now the fun begins as the dirty tricks brigades from the discredited groups, open fake Twitter and Facebook accounts. These keyboard warriors, will troll through social media platforms, trying to discredit anyone and everything that's positive. Using anonymity, their vile attacks will be aimed at keeping the trade fragmented, playing right back into the hands of those who would scheme to destroy us. 

I read this today on a Facebook debating group:

'It's not only TfL that needs a clear out, our org's and unions could do with one also'.

Sometimes the solutions are so simple, we overlook them.

Trevor Merralls talking about Uber Bristol at the UCG AGM 6th June 2016, another not to be missed video.

   

Videos from Support Black Taxis YouTube channel.

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St Pancras update from the Mayfair Mob(MM) & Dads Defending Daughters (DDD)...by Rayman

Camden have contacted me with an update on St Pancras.

The guy I met in early May has asked if drivers could show a little bit more patience as the design team are finalising their reports and have a couple more things to get signed off. We have a revised completion date of approx 4 weeks. I know this is frustrating but having met the guy personally he comes across as genuine and eager to get this resolved.

Apology

I would like to issue an apology on behalf of MM to Peter Rose and the LCDC for the strongly worded tweets they recieved last week. The tweets were in reaction to the article in Cab Trade News which we feel misinterpreted parking legislation, however this was no excuse to tweet in the manner in which we did especially as we are a multi org group.

Airport Style Drop Off

Myself and Walkbar along with a traffic consultant had looked into the plans for this during the consultation and were all of the opinion that the chances of getting it through to planning stages were very slim. We did not voice our opinions at the time and fully supported the plan as although the solution was flawed on several counts it was better than the status quo at the time.

DDD

Once this plan was rejected the chances of a solution looked bleak. This was where the DDD stepped in. Their brilliant action along with drivers from every org got Camden talking which led to a solution. Without this action and pressure from the RMT we would be looking at a solution around Christmas or beyond and not in approx 4 weeks.

COP OUT

I have seen on twitter people saying that the double yellow lines are a cop out. I have experience in Highways Planning and along with Walkbar assessed that double yellows was the most immediately practical solution we could find. This was also backed up by a Traffic Consultant we liased with. The 2 guys I met at Camden were also very knowledgeable in highways and parking laws. 

Once the 'airport' style plan was rejected they had come to the same conclusion as ourselves. To anyone in doubt I can 100% say that Camden have not copped out on this issue.

SUPPORT

Once the yellow lines are in place vehicles are no longer entitled to 10 minutes grace and are only entitled to drop of or set down. Camden will have marshalls present as much as they can and there will be help from TFL and the police to enforce the law. Whilst there will be occasions where the problem may creep back drivers are asked to call 101 and report it to the police. 

We would also ask TFL and the current UTG to fully support this solution for a period of 5 months to see if this solution works.

 As this is all being done on an experimental order if the lines do not work other solutions can be looked at. We would advise that if it is decided to go for the airport style solution again that major changes are made to avoid a repeat of last time and the MM are prepared to offer advice if needed.

M&S

No changes will be made outside M&S. There are only limited parking spaces here so in theory if these were full vehicles will be forced to move on. However this section should have no bearing on our ability to drop customers safely at the front end which was the problem for the Taxi trade. Camden are obliged to provide an area for pre booked Taxis and PHV but will have to deal with any abuse of this obligation.

Editorial Comment:

A couple of weeks ago I reported to TfLTPH, the Taxi rank sign outside "Sketch" had been taken away. They said they would report it to licensing as stolen and get a replacement put back. 

Last night, I stopped on the rank behind a parked minicab. I approached the driver and ask him (politely) to move but he pointed to the new sign that says (in massive font) "Taxi rank suspended".

It was only when I checked out the sign to find why the rank was in  suspension, I noticed in minute red font at the bottom the rank is actually still in operation to serve Sketch from 6:30pm until 7am. Typical TfLTPH. 

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Latest From The Lords Regarding Rickshaw Pedicabs.

Lord Storey

Liberal Democrat Lords Principal Spokesperson for Education:

Asked.

Her Majesty’s Government what are the health and safety requirements for operators?

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Transport) (Jointly with the Home Office):

Replied.

In England and Wales, excluding London, rickshaws (in the form of pedal-powered vehicles for carrying passengers, often also referred to as pedicabs) are regulated as taxis. 

They are therefore required to meet a local licensing authority’s taxi licensing conditions and any applicable byelaws. Under the different legislation that applies to London, they fall outside the scope of taxi regulation. The police have some limited powers to address inappropriate behaviour such as obstructing footways or driving in a reckless manner. The Government has recently announced its intention to introduce legislation to enable Transport for London to regulate pedicabs in London.

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Latest From The Lords, Regarding Rickshaw Pedicabs

Lord StoreyLiberal Democrat Lords Principal Spokesperson for Education

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the health and safety requirements for operators?

Lord Ahmad of WimbledonParliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Transport) (Jointly with the Home Office)

In England and Wales, excluding London, rickshaws (in the form of pedal-powered vehicles for carrying passengers, often also referred to as pedicabs) are regulated as taxis. They are therefore required to meet a local licensing authority’s taxi licensing conditions and any applicable byelaws. Under the different legislation that applies to London, they fall outside the scope of taxi regulation. The police have some limited powers to address inappropriate behaviour such as obstructing footways or driving in a reckless manner. The Government has recently announced its intention to introduce legislation to enable Transport for London to regulate pedicabs in London.

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Uber Pitch, Get Investors to back your brilliant idea.

It seems Uber have so much money, they want to share some of it with their customers who may have business ideas. How about this one.: 

UBER BUSES, to run in direct competition with TfLs bus fleet. 

Half price but with no fix rout so you never know quite where you end up. 

Stopping at any bus stop they like and asking passengers where they want to go. 

Buses could be navigated by wonderful new technology of the Sat Nav.

Plenty of staff on hand at TfL to help organise. 

Uber has launched a business pitching opportunity dubbed UberPITCH across three UK cities, which will provide entrepreneurs the opportunity to win over investors with their idea during a car ride, while the most popular will get to meet the on-demand car service’s founder Travis Kalanick in Germany.

UberPITCH could be the most important road trip of your life

The American business has teamed up with British investment partners including Atomico, EQT, Seedcamp, Elevate.VC, Hoxton Ventures, Flight Ventures, Backed, and more.

Meanwhile, the campaign will run across London, Edinburgh and Birmingham, with the in-car pitching to take place on Friday 3 June between 11am-3pm. Successful applicants will have ten minutes to pitch to an investor who will be waiting in the car, while they will then receive ten minutes of feedback.

“Every day Uber helps connect thousands of people to get around the UK. We want to celebrate these cities in which we live together with our growing community of riders and drivers. By making use of our technology we can bring people closer together and connect great ideas with the right audience,” the company said.

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The Question We'd All Like An Answer To ... by Tom Scullion.

I know we have a wide audience here from Tfl, MP's and others involved with the surface transport industry, what I cannot understand is why Tfl have not revoked Uber's operators license? 

Let's explore :

The reported alleged sexual assaults and rapes by one company.

The amount of crashes from one company.

The total lack of driver criminal checks from one company.

The complete lack of fleet management in terms of insurance from one company.

Question :

If Tfl are to be taken seriously, please explain why they allow "One company" to ignore the rules and ride roughshod over every regulation in the book?

Could it be the 40,000 license fees from this one company, blinkers their vision?

Is it £'s over principles?

Who knows, but one thing I am sure of, if any other PHV operator acted is this manner they would be closed down within 24 hours.

Why the favoritism ?

Be lucky

Tom Scullion

Space is available on this blog should TfL wish to explain their actions....or non-actions 

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