London black taxis plan congestion chaos to block Uber

Post by Karunamon » Thu, May 08, 2014, 2:28 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #35

nakedrobot2 wrote: post #2

What a deplorable, luddite attitude. The black taxis should be banned for some period of time for this behavior. "The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association complains that Uber's drivers are using a smartphone app to calculate fares despite it being illegal for private vehicles to be fitted with taximeters." So using this website in your car is illegal?! http://www.worldtaximeter.com/

You're either a minicab offering pre-booked journeys or you're a taxi with a meter. If Uber is claiming they're a pre-booked journey service rather than a taxi then yes, they shouldn't be using meters and that would be illegal. If you want to change the law then by all means write to your MP or whatever, but in the meantime the law as it is should be enforced, even against fashionable companies.

Post by twic » Thu, May 08, 2014, 2:31 PM UTC

ibmthrowaway218 wrote: post #34

6d0debc071 wrote: post #6

I wonder how legal that is. 'If a person, without lawful authority or excuse, in any way wilfully obstructs the free passage along a highway he is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding [F1 level 3 on the standard scale].' - Highways Act 1980 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/part/IX/crosshea...

The right to protest is also enshrined in UK law (within a huge number of constraints). Other (one-off or infrequent) protests such as Critical Mass certainly obstruct free passage along the highway, but they are tolerated.

Post by twic » Thu, May 08, 2014, 2:32 PM UTC

corin_ wrote: post #79

rwmj wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Umm, citation needed. Salaries are usually at least 50% of a company's expenses, and UK tax on salaries will be 30-40% of that, so that's at least 15-20%, likely more.

Citation needed for sure, but being a big % of expenses doesn't mean anything either way - salaries could be 100% of your expenses, and tax rates could be 90%, but if the company has revenue of 100x and expenditure of 10x then 90% of that 100% is still only 9x, which is the equivilent to a 10% tax on their 90x company profits. (Equally, salaries could be a small percentage of expenditure, but if the company makes onl…

Post by LanceH » Thu, May 08, 2014, 2:35 PM UTC

hobolobo wrote: post #28

The impression is that Uber are somehow freeing customers from unscrupulous and gouging taxi drivers. Taxi customers aren't being freed, they're simply under new management.

Post by Dylan16807 » Thu, May 08, 2014, 2:36 PM UTC

nodata wrote: post #87

snitko wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where I live anyone can be a cab. You raise your hand on any street any time of day and some car will stop. As a result, prices are normally 3 times lower compared to the US. You negotiate the price with drivers beforehand and you don't have to tip them because all of the money go directly into the driver's pocket. I've never heard anyone complain about this system. Now tell me how is this a bad idea?

Your argument is that cheapest must be best? Try safety of the passenger, upkeep of the vehicle, all the other reasons mentioned elsewhere on this page...