It's All Political, Smoke And Mirrors...by I'm Spartacus

So the Mayor has announced the air strategy and as expected Taxis are exempt as there is a well developed plan for us.

As expected Uber put there oar in, so for Tom Elvidge's education who seems to know about all this as much as his drivers do about London, perhaps even less than the taxes they avoid (but not for much longer mate)

1. Taxi drivers can only use TfL approved vehicle types, Drivers have always bought the lowest polluting available to them.

2. Gross over licensing of PH has lead to ever increasing pollution so when Uber depart this will improve no end.

3. Soon the only approved taxi types will be Euro 6 or ZEC, there will be a scrappage scheme to encourage take up.

Anyhow Uber in their own words don't own or operate vehicles, so any data from them is wholly unreliable, they wont even say how many vehicles they 'control'.

To conclude then Uber, obey the law, pay your dues and then and only then can you comment.

Until then don't pollute London with your PR tosh!

I'm Spartacus 

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Evening Standard Launches Attack On The Taxi Trade With Fake News... By Carrie Harrison

I'm sure most of us read the Evening Standard story yesterday, whereby Zipjet the "specialist dry cleaners" carried out research, analysing contamination of the most popular modes of public transport. Remarkably, Black Taxis came out as the most contaminated. 

They even went so far to say that: 

"On the contrary, the seats of an Uber was found to be the cleanest mode of transport in the city. The double decker red bus was the second cleanest way to commute followed by the tube" ... 

Well don't you think it's very strange that one of the directors/board members of the said "specialist dry cleaners" has the same correspondence address at companies house, as the registered address of the Evening Standard!

To be honest, we've been expecting a broadside from this paper, after he incredibly bad news week their friends at Uber have received from the Mail and FT this last week. 

The Press Complaints Commission has been replaced by the IPSO, but the Standard isn't signed up to it, so the only complaints procedure open to us is the one within the Standard itself. 

Please fill in the Standard complaint form below. 

It will go to the Independent offices. 

I didn't know this, but they are under the same ownership. 

We must capitalise on this instead of just commenting amongst ourselves.

http://ift.tt/2e0ezPe

Here's the link to he online story:

http://ift.tt/2o0z1ry

Just to be clear :

Zipjet's address, registered with companies house is 76 Oxford Street W1. 

Whereas the address in the images above, is for one of the directors/board members of Zipjet, Stephen Riley and is stated as his correspondence address (coincidentally, It's the registered address of the Evening Standard). 

Let's see the comments readers left on the online article:

With thanks to Carrie Harrison and Murrey Gordon 

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UCG Demo On Thursday Is Calling For A ‘Parliamentary Inquiry’, Which Is Extremely Worrying... By Dave Davies.

Update, From The Good Law Limited Regarding Crowdfunding Stretched Target

Thank you for your support. 

As you will have noticed we have now hit the initial fundraising target. This means we are in a position to commence proceedings against Uber. The legislation gives Uber a period of time to provide us with a VAT receipt - until the middle of this month - and this means we can't sue it until that period of time has run out. But we will not drag our heels. Last week - even before the fundraising target was hit - I asked the barrister team to start drafting the claim again Uber and I hope and expect we will be in a position to start proceedings against them in the High Court before the end of the month.

Some people have asked why the funding target has been raised. 

If you read the original listing it explains that it is very difficult to work out how much a case like this will cost and it points out that £75k is unlikely to be enough. I also said this on twitter a number of times whilst we were raising the £75k. And although £75k is a lot of money, remember, the case could well be worth billions of pounds to Uber. 

Because the barristers and solicitors are working at low rates, I think £75k will take us most but not all of the way. If we don't hit the raised target I am likely to need to seek more crowdfunding later on. But we will still take the initial steps. Indeed, I cannot absolutely rule out the possibility that we will need to raise more money even if we do hit the raised target. But I will try very hard to avoid that possibility.

Yes, I could have asked for more money to start with - but sometimes people like to see how you spend the money they've given you before they give you more. And if you ask for too high a target you run the risk that you won't hit it and you won't be able to do anything. So I exercised my judgment.

In the meantime, you should make sure that your MP understands your frustration at the fact that it is you who is having to pay to challenge Uber's tax avoidance. You should ask him or her why HMRC isn't doing it.

Thanks, again, for your support. I know the money you pledged was hard earned.

Jo Maugham 

Use this link below to donate 

>http://ift.tt/2nLYD9i<

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Uber Uses Psychological Tricks To Make Drivers Work Longer Hours.

Uber uses psychological tricks through cleverly designed apps to make their drivers work longer hours and earn more money for the company, according to a recently released report by the New York Times. 

Most Uber drivers don't have the traditional 9am-5pm schedule. They have free range to set their own pace while working.

However, Uber software introduces earning targets and uses them as incentives when drivers try to log off 

In the past, Uber has also experimented with video game techniques, graphics and non-payment rewards, which are used to encourage drivers to work longer and harder.

For example, Uber has utilized a tactic known as earning goals, which in their case, alerts drivers that they are very close to hitting a target when they try to log off the company's driving app. 

Uber uses psychological tricks through cleverly designed apps to make their drivers (file) work longer hours and earn more money for the company, according to a recently released report

This means the company has a clever algorithm set up that sends drivers their next job before their current ride is over.

'We show drivers areas of high demand or incentivize them to drive more,' Michael Amodeo, an Uber spokesman, told the Times. 

Amodeo made sure to mention that the 'decision whether or not to drive is 100 per cent theirs'.

And in reality it is, and there is technically no coercion. However, the added emphasis on reaching a goal, can be tempting for employees to just keep driving. 

Uber has also made efforts to create a more cheery atmosphere, especially after the company's chief executive, Travis Kalanick, was caught on camera on Super Bowl Sunday shouting 'bulls***' at Uber driver Fawzi Kamel who confronted him at the end of a ride in San Francisco for lowering prices. 

The footage added to the company's growing list of woes.

Uber is already facing horrific allegations that sexism, racism and homophobia are commonplace throughout its offices from former female employees who say they were routinely harassed.

And in order to combat those woes, Uber has taken a softer approach toward drivers in an attempt to compete with rival Lyft, which is known for being driver-friendly.

According to the Times, Uber exists in a type of legal and ethical purgatory because its drivers are independent contractors, who don't have most of the protections associated with employment.

See full article >CLICK HER<

LTR interview : with Sean Paul Day and LCDC's Grant Davis. 

  

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Bombshell News As insurers Change Terms And Conditions Of Hire And Reward Policies.

It has been bought to our attention, that Tradex Insurance and most other Insurance Companies, who cover both Taxi and Private hire insurance, have now placed an exclusion in their terms of Insurance. 

They will now refuse to honor any claims made by licensed vehicle found accepting trips while working outside their own Licensed Area. This means that PH drivers who are licensed by TfL as Private Hire Drivers, found to be accepting trips from their operator while outside the Greater Metropolitan Police District of Greater London are basically uninsured. 

Westminster Insurance have had a clause in their terms and conditions, in regards to PH drivers working outside their area since 2014 (see below).

This means Uber drivers, waiting for a ping, sitting around Gatwick Airport, are uninsured. As are the Uber drivers working the Uber app in Oxford, Reading, Bristol, Southend, Brighton etc. Drivers are breaking the law by being uninsured as soon as they accept work from Uber (or in certain cases illegally Touting)  

It also works in reverse... PHV driver's licensed in Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham etc, who come to London at the weekend to work in the capital, are also uninsured and breaking the law.

The legislation on cross border hiring is complicated and open to interpretation. See this article which explains the 2015 act in detail. >http://ift.tt/2nytg1g<

But the terms and conditions of the insurance companies is very clear. Accept a job and pick up passengers for hire and reward outside of your licensed area, and you are uninsured.

As I write this post, thousands of PH drivers are accepting work, picking up people outside their licensed area, driving their vehicles without any insurance cover.

See below, page 11 sub (ii) of the Westminster Taxi, PHV, PSV terms and conditions:

With thanks to Les Reid 

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As Relicensing Approaches, Uber Trying To But Its Way Back Into The Mayors Good Books.

Desperate for some positive PR, after one of the worst weeks they've had since they were first licensed 2012 and to woo it's way back into TfL's good books, Uber announce they are to expand their electric car presence in London.

London's Taxi trade are about to be limited to purchasing only zero emission taxis from next year. We have to remember that the £50m government subsidy promised is finite and is proposed for both Taxi and private hire. 

If relicensed, Uber will be looking to the mayor for a large slice of this subsidy, to provide fast charging units for private hire use only and if they continue to expand at the current rate, they could eat up over 60% of the money on offer. 

Uber is to deploy a number of initiatives intended to expand the number of fully electric vehicles available on its app in London as a new Energy Saving Trust report uncovers major potential for many more private hire drivers

The minicab app is to deploy a further 100 Nissan LEAFs to join the existing 50 models that went on trial in the autumn. The vehicles will be delivered to Uber rental partners next week and will be available to rent at a rate said to be competitive with most popular hybrid cars.

To support the expansion, Uber is also planning to install a network of branded rapid chargers dedicated for use by Uber drivers. It will also revise its app to enable Uber drivers using electric cars to access trips near a rapid charging point if needed

The announcement of the initiatives comes as Uber publishes the findings of a study by the Energy Saving Trust on the trial of the first 50 Nissan LEAFs. The research shows that in just three months more than 35,000 riders took trips in a fully electric car in London through the Uber app. The survey also found that in the main, electric vehicles are popular with both drivers and passengers.

However, the analysis also identified a “severe lack” of rapid chargers in central London – there are only three publicly available – which hampered drivers.

The study also that drivers need residential charging infrastructure to be able to re-charge overnight at or near home. Even with chargers closer to their homes, many drivers reported a lack of reliable availability with some even having to get up in the middle of the night to use the charger when it was unoccupied.

As a result, many drivers found the money saved from running their car on electricity didn’t make up for the amount of time lost struggling to find a suitable charging point.

(Shape of things to come to the Taxi trade?)

Jo Bertram, regional general manager of Uber in the UK, said: “Our vision is for mass adoption of fully electric cars as private hire vehicles but there are some really big challenges we need to overcome. 

Charging cars can be costly for drivers and there’s a serious lack of rapid charging points in central London". 

Funny not a word from our orgs or unions about this issue.

She went on to say, "We hope the Mayor’s forthcoming transport strategy will lead to more chargers which private hire drivers can use. In the meantime we’re determined to make progress with a further 100 Nissan LEAFs and plans for a network of chargers for drivers who use Uber”.

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