Taxi Driver Online

Well this is all pretty straightforward, assuming of course that the cars aren't pre-booked...


Peterborough taxi drivers fear for future of black cabs in city over issues with Uber drivers at Railway Station

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/new ... on-4992092

Posters put up at station reminding private hire drivers of rules


Image: Peterborough Telegraph

Taxi drivers in Peterborough have spoken of the threat to the traditional black cab in the city – after issues with how Uber drivers are using the Railway Station pick up and drop off areas.

Hackney Carriages have been seen on city streets for as long as anyone can remember.

Mahmood Khan, a taxi driver in Peterborough for more than 40 years, and Jake Carter, a fellow cabbie, both spoke out over the threat Uber has caused – saying some drivers were not sticking to the rules.

The cab drivers say that Uber drivers have been waiting in the pick up and drop off area of the station car park – or even on the access road to the station – at peak times, so when passengers get off trains, they see an Uber, which is often cheaper than using a black cab is near-by.

However, Private Hire drivers should not wait at the station without a pre-booked fare.

Posters have now been placed around the station area reminding drivers of this – but Mahmood and Jake said this had made no difference.

Jake said: “Uber has been operating in Peterborough for about six months now.

"We don’t have a problem with competition. However, some of the things that some drivers are doing is breaching the rules, which is hindering what we can do.

"We have to pay a £2,000 licence every year to be able to operate at the station taxi rank. Our taxis are very expensive to buy.

"For the past six months, it has been very difficult for us. People getting off the trains can see there are Ubers in the car park waiting – when private hire vehicles should not be waiting like that, unless they have a pre-booked fare.”

Mahmood said: “We are seeing people leaving the black cab driving trade as a result of this. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Hackney Carriage drivers in Peterborough, with the closure of the Showground, the lack of a night time economy like there was a few years ago, and other things disappearing from the city.

"We are also seeing drivers, including Uber drivers, dropping people off on the mini-roundabout, blocking the road for everyone, and filling up the pick up/drop off area while they are waiting. It is very busy in there now at peak times, and someone could get injured.

"There appears to be no penalty for them not abiding by the rules.”

Peterborough City Council’s web page on rules for Private Hire drivers states:

"A private hire vehicle is a vehicle that must be pre-booked through a licensed private hire operator. Private hire vehicles cannot be flagged down in the street and are not allowed to wait on a rank. A private hire vehicle can be identified by a yellow licence plate, as opposed to a white plate displayed by taxis, and by white door stickers which inform passengers that the vehicle is not insured unless it has been pre-booked. Whilst fares may be charged by the meter, it is more common for a fixed fare to be charged.”

An Uber spokesperson said: “All drivers must adhere to the high standards set across the industry and the regulations of the local authority. All private-hire trips in the UK must be pre-booked and any driver found picking up unbooked trips will permanently lose access to the app. We regularly remind drivers that they must adhere to Uber's community guidelines, which includes safely picking up and dropping off passengers in the appropriate areas."

And, of course, the advice pasted above from the council's website about plate colours and door stickers etc assumes that the Uber cars are plated locally...

The pick up drop off area at peterborough station is very limited space wise and exceptionally busy plus it's further from the Taxi rank so more likely lots of Ubers getting pre booked. In pre uber days probably 4 or 5 PH's used to pick up for every one hackney getting a fare. But of course in those days the drivers were all cousins,nephews etc of the hackney drivers whereas maybe now there are ubers coming to Peterborough from elsewhere and the fares are not going to family members.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

No one in the article is alleging illegal pickups, more that Uber vehicles are waiting for punters to come off the train.

I'm pretty certain punters are booking vehicles whilst on the train, and walking past the hackneys to get into their booked vehicles. Happens at Brighton station 24/7.

What the existing hackney trade should be debating is why. Are they too dear? Do they all take cards?

When customers have a choice and don't choose you, the problem isn't those they choose instead, it's you.

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IDFIMH

You sound like our licensing team. In our town the UBER drivers have all give out their own cards and are not taking jobs booked through the UBER app but accepting bookings themselves and in many cases just picking up off the street without any booking.
Our licensing team are not interested. They came out one night when the Hackneys had complained endlessly and the approached one, yes one UBER driver and he would not take them so therefore there is no problem.

Clearly those drivers don't want to pay the 25-40% commission, but the law still applies to everyone, even Uber drivers.

I wouldn't want to come across as an Uber fan, because I'm not. Still, I have it on very good authority that licensing officers have no problems when dealing with Uber, so they could get info straight away telling them if the Uber vehicle picking up is doing so within the law.

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IDFIMH

That would mean that they would need to start by acknowleging that there is the possibility that the UBER drivers could be working illegally. ours don't think there is a problem.
For instance.
Our station pick up point is only 40 yards or less away from the desk that the licensing officers use and there is a window that overlooks the rank. You can see UBER cars waiting to pick up and if you look at the UBER passenger app you can see that they are visible which means that they do not have a booking through UBER. Passengers get off the train and may get in a Hackney if one is there or they will go up to the UBER car and talk to the driver. They then get in the car and it drives off still being visible on tthe UBER app so no UBER booking.
Our licensing team tell me that they are not permitted to download the passenger app and look at what the cars are doing because of RIPPA. They also are very rarely in the office because they work from home so they can't actually observe the pick up point.
It is a total joke. I have sent them all the reports that are regulaly on here regarding prosecutions from other Councils but I rarely even get an acknowlegement from the licensing team. I do sometimes get a reply from the vice chair of the licensing committee but the chair doesn't respond much.
I think they ignore the issue because of how much money it would cost to prosecute relitively to how much they would get from the court.
I am told that the cost of takeing a driver to court can run to around £10,000 and if succesful in the prosecution they very rarely get a full costs order.

They don't need to look at any details on customers' phones, nor on driver's phones, although legally they have the right to do the latter. All they need to do is contact Uber.

Should take Uber at least a minute or two to confirm to officers if the job was legal or otherwise.

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IDFIMH

That is a significant problem and there is no easy answer, other than revoking the license, issuing a 2-4 week suspension, then letting the driver undertake the appeal. Most don't.

Not a fan of either revoking or suspending, but maybe the threat will make iffy drivers think again.

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IDFIMH

Problem is, Sussex, that presumably these are cross-border cars, thus probably not a lot the council can do about it short of a criminal prosecution.

But as regards the badges, plates and operator's licenses, and the threat of suspension or revocation, presumably it's the issuing council who should be doing the enforcement stuff?

And wasn't this the sort of thing that Uber's geofencing was supposed to prevent, or at least deter?

Presumably if the station and areas within sight of train passengers were geofenced, Uber cars would at least be deterred from sitting in the geofenced area, because then they wouldn't show as available on the Uber app?

Who is the issuing council(s) with regard to Uber's operator's licence, plates and badges, Grandad?

It's maybe really those councils who should be taking the action regarding plying for hire, at least from the purely licensing angle, and maybe they'd be the ones who should be liasing with Uber to get the station area geofenced?

But can my Council revoke a license issued by another authority?

We have the same problem here in Chester. We have Knowsley, Sefton, Liverpool,Wolverhampton, Manchester and Wirral plated Uber just to name a few. I have sent video evidence from our drivers to our licensing officers, this was my last reply from them “ I’m afraid that we are unable to raise complaints on behalf of a third-party” in other words, we can’t be bothered, complain to the licensing department concerned . I have and most times don’t get a reply, when we do it’s to say they can’t tell us what’s going to happen to the driver because of GDPR.

No, but they can gather evidence for the council that can, and that council can contact Uber and get the answers almost straight away.

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IDFIMH

That's the kind of story the local press love.

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IDFIMH