Taxi Driver Online

Uber proposes to clamp down on cross-border driving in the UK

https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/single-post/2018/02/15/Uber-proposes-tightening-up-on-crossborder-driving-in-the-UK

Not often I'm surprised, but in this case (in reference to the post above) pigs do indeed fly.

Uber Blog

Changes to where drivers can receive trips

In 2018, we are making some changes that we hope will help us work better in the cities we operate in.

This decision will affect some drivers more than others and we have been in touch with those who will be most impacted.

These changes will take place from Wednesday 14 March 2018. We will be introducing these changes to where drivers can receive trips, based on where they hold their licence.

What is changing?

From Wednesday 14 March, drivers will still be free to choose where they want to drive, however, drivers will only be able to receive requests from the Uber app in the region in which their licensing authority is. The location of your driver’s licence will allow you to drive in one of 9 regions in England and Wales. We’ve outlined the major cities within each region below.

North East

Newcastle
Sunderland
Durham

North West

Merseyside
Greater Manchester
Chester

Yorkshire

Leeds
Bradford
Sheffield

Midlands

Birmingham
Wolverhampton
Leicester
Nottingham
Derby
Stoke

East of England

Cambridge

South East

Southampton
Brighton
Portsmouth

South West

Bristol
Bath

Greater London

Including surrounding areas

Wales

Cardiff
Newport

For example, if a driver has a TfL private hire licence, but does the majority of their driving with Uber in Birmingham, they will have to get a private hire licence from a council in the Midlands to continue driving with Uber in and around this area.

Why are we changing things?

Some local authorities – the people that give us our operator licence – have told us that the way the app works can make it hard for them to do their job. One way the app can be difficult for them is by overseeing what private hire drivers are doing in their jurisdiction. We hope that this change will help to make us a better and more responsible presence in cities.

The few drivers who will be affected by our decision, will have received an email from us. We understand that this is a big change and we are here to support them every step of the way.

Help and assistance

We are providing them with more information about the change, talking them through the relicensing process and answering their questions and concerns.

We are also supporting affected drivers in the following ways:

Dedicated application support

Our team is dedicated to supporting drivers through the process of getting a new licence. More information about relicensing can also be found here

Help from Experts

Drivers can head into their local Greenlight Hub for help. We will also be getting in touch with affected drivers over the phone over the coming days.

You can find your Greenlight Hub opening hours here

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IDFIMH

In my area I would say 60% plus of Uber drivers will have to f*** off back to the area they licensed in.

Couldn't be happier.

This is going to effect nationally, in my view, best part of 10,000 Uber drivers.

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IDFIMH

Could lead to a big drop in Uber licensed drivers as most Councils will not accept dodgy medicals or DBS certificates unlike TFL.

Midlands

Birmingham
Wolverhampton
Leicester
Nottingham
Derby
Stoke

so are uber claiming that the licensing authorities in these cities will be happy for Uber cars licensed in say Wolverhampton to ply their trade in Leicester ?

I fail to see how this is not cross border to me it sounds more like a restructuring of ubers business

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

Join the campaign to get April fools jokes banned for 364 days a year !

Yes, it's still cross-border, it's just that it *looks* *slightly* less ridiculous than the way Uber is doing it just now.

But if there's a problem with enforcement/compliance is each LA's jurisdiction, then I can't see how this helps much.

It may look slightly less ridiculous to have Liverpool-licensed cars working in Manchester (say) than TfL-licensed cars working in Manchester (say), but as regards the problems that seem to be arising then I can't see how in practical terms it makes much difference.

But all looks like part of Uber's charm offensive to make sure it keeps its TfL licence - like the limit on drivers' hours this one seems more PR-driven than anything that will make a huge difference in terms of safety etc.

I think this is all down to Uber desperate to get/keep their TfL license.

As alluded to by posts above, cross border is cross border not cross country or region.

A TfL car picking up in Brighton is as bad as a TfL car picking up in Windsor.

And are Uber really saying it will be easier for a Portsmouth LO to keep tabs on Portsmouth PH working solely in East Sussex?

I would say that at least 80% of the cars in this country working on Uber are licensed by TfL, so that's really all Uber are concerned about.

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IDFIMH

There is one licensed TFL vehicle up here whose licensing along with drivers was all done by post.