uber/private hire's role
Did you read the article in question?
The author himself admits that it is quite possible that the Mayor has ulterior motives in specifically going after Uber.
The motive is that the Mayor and Tfl believe that the Uber is interefering with public transportation in the city and even hurts it.
They oppose cabs (and private cars) in principle and are afraid that affordable cabs will hurt their goal of making everyone to use public transportation all the time.
So if you want to blame someone for making up conspiracy theories, you should start with the author of the article.
Regarding Rotherham I clearly explained the connection.
It is hypocritical indeed when the British police which had willfully turned a blind eye to so many sex crimes and continue to do so,will lecture Uber which allegedly covered up a few such occasions.
uber/private hire's role
TfL are weary of taxis and the monopoly power they represent. Enforcement and getting the taxi union to agree to various policies is a tricky issue in London.
Taxis can use bus lanes, bus only access and various other exemptions.
Private Hire firms such as Uber enjoy no such concessions.
So, from a regulatory point of view, competition in the form of mini cabs and the Ubers of this world is a 'Good Thing'.
The evidence actually supports it- there are 21,000 taxi licenses and 75,000 private hire licenses issued by Tfl.
So, it doesn't seem as though TfL are trying to stamp down on private hire firms.
Actually the current trend is to discourage usage of cars in central and highly polluted areas. this is done by congestion charging and restrictions on use by various measures. recent trends have been to reduce road space, introduce speed limits, increased crossing time for pedestrians, imposing tougher engine emission standards and so
forth.
This has an impact on Uber- but it does not single them out - for better or for worrh.
It may be of interest to note that in recent discussion of traffic modeling for central London, the 'Uber' impact was not highlighted as a major concern. Had the policy been otherwise, Uber would have come up as a significant player.
So i do not believe that TfL are trying to 'get 'uber and clap their wings so to speak.
The real culprit are Uber . after all, they do have a track record of disregarding certain aspects of regulations and acceptable standards- around the world.
As I see it, if Uber undertakes to comply with TfL requirements, they would be granted their license exention.
The blog post detailed the actual key facts- how Uber operates in the UK, and the regulatory framework in London.
I do not know the person writing the blog, but I have met over the years with people from TfL and some of the 'politicians' in City Hall.
There is no great love lost between those and the taxi/private hire trade bodies- just like anywhere else in the world.
However, there is a clear understanding/acknowledgement of their role in providing transport services to the public.
There is also a clear understanding of the limited road space vs the rapid growth in vehicluar usage competing for this limited road space.
Regards
PS, yes, my machine can not be modified to allow Hebrew or non Latin script.
Sorry about that.
