Yes, but this is about London and all black cabs are by design - in fact the makers are now looking for export markets to countries where these kind of regulations are being adopted.
Black cabs work, in fact, on a quid pro quo basis - in exchange for a strictly limited monopoly (picking people up on the street without booking) they have to provide an accessible public service which can basically transport people from anywhere to anywhere in London.
I remember an American businessman once telling me with awe how he had arrived in London tired out, jetlagged and almost out on his feet and said to the taxi driver “I want that hotel - it’s something like Regent’s Park” and the driver just said “Holiday Inn?” and drove straight to it.
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That’s right. On the other hand, society has greater need of a transportation system than of musicians. Transportation almost always winds getting mixed up with government mandated DRM. Look at how they make you take a course, pass a quiz, demonstrate your eyesight, pay money and so on if you want to operate a car. They’ll even put you in jail if they catch you driving without the proper DRM. No wonder the RIAA was drooling… My grandfather didn’t have to put up with any of that with his Model T.
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Absolutely correct, and all the more reason why no one business model should be allowed to exercise regulatory capture.
It should be in the hailing app. I have no interest in sending a fax.
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Interesting story.
These medallion owners bought into an “American dream” that was tied body and soul to regulatory capture.
I sympathize with them, but no more than I do with anyone else who loses their shirt in a dying business model.
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Not in London, they don’t. If you can jump through the hoops required to apply for a licence, you’re good.
Oh yes he is.
I think that fixes that for you.
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Exactly. Why does every thread about Uber get derailed by the “US city medallion rationing is immoral” arguments, that simply do not apply to every city Uber does business in, but still seem to be a major excuse for generic “get off Uber’s back” sentiments? There is no rationing of licences to operate taxis in London but there are strong regulations for the protection of the public. That TfL is prepared to stand up for those regulations is a welcome thing.
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because some people have vested so much of their identity with the freight of “libertarianism” that if the narrative doesn’t fit, stretch it until it rips.
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No need to go that far, there are thresholds of inconvenience well before full saturation of public roads (that’s the resource here, not the cars), which taxis make a specific use of, through their right of cruising.
I was being unspecific on purpose. As for your second question, I don’t think companies should ever been given stewardship of common resources, that’s why regulation is important, but it’s certainly not trivial to set up, and even more complicated to modify. But having a new actor outright ignoring the rules does nothing to better the situation, save for showing the weaknesses of the regulations, if any. At such a point, an update of the rules may be in order, but certainly not in order to accommodate the disruptor. The case of Uber outlines the need for changes in the licensing policies, it doesn’t make away with all the reasons for the licensing system to exist.
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Question for Londoners: What are the fare’s like, black cabs versus Uber??
and what is the rate of black cab drivers sexually assaulting their fares compared to the rate of uber drivers doing the same. the rate, not the numbers.
I realise I am hopelessly antiquated but is using the internet form also too hopelessly old-fashioned these days?
I agree it could be simpler but it’s not like it’s unreasonably difficult to either fill in a web-form or (and I appreciate this is apparently a controversial concept for the ‘yoof’ these days) use the smartphone you’d be using the app on for its originally intended purpose and phone them.
Also - you do realise that Tfl is the regulator and doesn’t organise a cab for you?
Any hailing app will only notify the company whose app it is. So whether they do anything about it rather depends on them.
Since Uber don’t like cooperating with the regulator…
Since it’s almost panto season:
Oh, no he isn’t! 
Fair point. TfL certainly don’t seem to like them any more than any other bunch of people they regulate which was the claim being made.
Fates for hackney carriages anywhere in the uk are higher than private hire cabs. You can hail a cab in the street, private hire comes to you, but costs less.
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