News 9 February 2016
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Author: Bernie Mac

Uber offers to make peace with London’s black cabs

9 February 2016
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There’s a war going on outside no man is safe from… not even cab drivers. Since it’s arrival on the cabbing scene (yeah I know right) Uber has changed the landscape on how we cab it across the city.

The app has revolutionised the way we book, how much we pay and the way we travel (pass me the aux lead please boss). Fares are way cheaper with Uber, drivers seem friendlier (or pretend to be in order to get that 5 star rating) and you get to choose what kind of car you want.

This has inevitably pissed off the old school traditional guard of black cab drivers, with the iconic fleet of cars taking a bit of a hit in recent years with the meteoric rise of the Uber app. There’s been a sort of “taxi war”, so to say, and black cab drivers have been on this beef ting!

Now in an apparent peace offering, Uber has decided to allow traditional black cab drivers to book their journeys through the app without paying the company. It hopes that by doing so, it will allow the years-long dispute between the two groups to come to an end. But the beef is likely to continue as Uber says it will continue to undercut black cabs (LOL) and hope they change their services.

Uber recognised the initial advantages of black cabs. “For example they have the exclusive right to pick up passengers who hail a cab on a street in the capital and can use ranks at busy places like hotels, airports and train stations, street hail is the most popular way for passengers in the wealthiest, busiest parts of town to get around,” they said.

One topic some of us maybe divided upon is the fact Uber also hoped taxi drivers could do away with The Knowledge, the famous test that requires all London cab drivers to know the city off by heart.

“In the age of GPS and live traffic apps, is such an onerous test still needed? Could a modern version of The Knowledge that took advantage of new technology and only took a year to complete be just as effective?”

“And when a black cab typically costs more than £40,000 to buy and thousands a year to run, shouldn’t taxi drivers be given a broader choice of cars including green and hybrid vehicles?

The saga continues…