Taxi Driver Online

Taxi drivers say Uber has "flagrant disregard" to rules as decision on apps use in Brighton and Hove is deferred



TAXI drivers accused Uber of showing a "flagrant disregard" to rules and urged councillors to be cautious in granting them a licence at a crunch meeting yesterday.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s licensing committee met with representatives of the private hire taxi mobile phone app to determine whether they should be allowed to operate in the city.

But after four hours at Brighton Town Hall no decision was made.

The panel heard from local cab drivers, campaigners and one taxi boss who travelled 200 miles from Birmingham to urged caution over introducing Uber.

Uber applied for a licence to operate in Brighton and Hove seven months ago which will allow customers to use their mobile phone to hail a private hire cab.

Concerns were focused on whether Uber would have to adhere the council’s 'Blue Book' which sets out the guidelines and provisions for taxis in the city.

Martin Walker, the operations manager of Star Cars and Coaches, in Birmingham, accused Uber of showing "flagrant disregard for conditions" set by local authorities and warned the council to be cautious with their decision.

He said: "If you can believe they are going to follow everything in the Blue Book and you have a way to hold them to account then I give you all my best wishes with that one.

"You have to be completely satisfied the new boys are going to fit in and they are going to take their responsibilities to you seriously."

Questions were raised in the meeting over whether or not they offered fair competition and provisions for disabled users. Concerns were also raised about data protection and surge pricing.

However, Uber assured they will meet all legal standards and conditions in Brighton and Hove.

Andrew Byrne, from Uber, said: “We want to be absolutely clear we will adhere to any of the conditions set in the Blue Book - we want to be licensed the same as everyone else.”

He added that Uber passenger safety measures were "best in class" and said the company would meet any provisions required for disability access cars.

John Streeter, vice chairman of Brighton and Hove Streamline, said he wanted a “level playing field” and unless Uber guarantee they will meet all council standards "they should not be issued a licence".

Should they be granted a licence, Uber would operate from a North Street office and have a fleet of private hire cabs in the city.

Councillor Dee Simpson, sitting on the panel, suggested they grant a shorter contract to Uber of 12 to 18 months to give them “time to develop” and prove they could meet the authority's "high standards".

However, councillors could not decide and put back the decision which is now expected in the next few weeks.

source: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/13880692 ... bout_Uber/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

So what did Unite and the GMB contribute to this debate ??

where was the to$$er Brighton Breezy

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All posts by this contributor are made in a strictly personal capacity

I AM PROUD TO BE A CITIZEN NOBODY'S SUBJECT http://www.republic.org.u

F88K EM ALL WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND

BOOZE BOOZE BOOZE

Uber responds to Brighton row: 'Our drivers go through the same background checks as taxi drivers'


Uber is awaiting a decision on wherther it can operate in Brighton

The Uber mobile phone app allows customers or passengers to book a taxi from the firm and pay for it using their phone.

The drivers called partner-drivers are all self employed. According to its website Uber operates in 60 countries. It is already in use in London, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham and now it has applied for a licence in Brighton and Hove.

Brighton & Hove's city council has been given more time to make its decision. Local taxi drivers are concerned - they say that if Uber is granted a licence its drivers should be subject to the same rules and guidelines that they have to observe. Uber says it does abide by the rules.

The row centres around whether the increased competition for fares will be fair, whether background checks will be as stringent as for taxi drivers and whether Uber private hire drivers will have to / will be able to provide vehicles accessible for specific groups of the community, such as people who use wheelchairs.

“In the UK Uber is fully licensed and regulated and abides by all private hire legislation. All partner-drivers operating on the Uber platform are fully licensed private hire drivers and have been through enhanced DBS checks, the same background check taxi drivers go through. In the UK Uber’s model has been scrutinised by over 30 regulators and found to be compliant."

– Uber spokesman

source: http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update ... i-drivers/

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I guess seeing as Uber drivers are just drivers that have left another company they will have had all the checks etc they needed prior to working for Uber. It's scaremongering when it talks about enhanced DBS and background checks. How many operators actually check a DBS from a driver because some councils have some pretty slack precedures imo

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!

If the press don't realise the original article doesn't mention anyone in Brighton questioning background checks then they are actually guilty of giving the app firm a free advert on a national news site.

f*cking idiots

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Nothing, other than stating they no longer objected to Uber's application.

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IDFIMH

I would guess Uber have had up to £100,000 worth of free advertising down here in the last week.

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IDFIMH

no publicity is bad publicity as the saying goes - although if your drivers rape passengers, that's bad publicity http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-20/d ... pe/6870546

but the press not seeing through what uber are doing for publicity is almost as shocking as the press getting stories through hacking phones

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

But it was all good publicity.

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IDFIMH

if the press had anything about them they'd have mentioned the rape story

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Maybe the local press down here are part of a newspaper group that recently signed a £250,000 national advertising campaign with Uber.

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IDFIMH

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Why I'm AGAINST Uber

John Streeter, Vice chairman of Streamline

THE citizens of Brighton and Hove currently enjoy the best 24/7 taxi service in the country together with the highest standards that protect all members of our society, and this must never be allowed to drop.

On Uber’s own admission at Monday’s hearing, if a vulnerable person requested a lady driver they could not provide it, their app does not allow the customer to book a wheelchair accessible vehicle, their app does not allow a vision impaired customer with a guide dog to book a cab, and the customer does not have access to an operator to talk to in the event of lost property or possibly a problem with the driver.

Uber operates a price surge policy which differs from city to city at different times of day, and in times of a major crisis prices go through the roof.

On Streamline as all our cars and drivers are exclusively licensed by the council and they all operate on the same tariff.

Streamline welcomes all competition, as long as everything is on a level playing field.

Only last week we renewed our Private Hire Operator's Licence.

I quote from the letter accompanying the Private Hire Operator's Application form from the hackney carriage office which states “You will need to provide with your application a document setting out your policies in relation to those with a disability. If you do not provide this information or your policies are unsatisfactory your application will be returned."

It says “If you do not provide this information or your policies are unsatisfactory your application will be returned”.

To date, more than 300 of our wheelchair accessible vehicle drivers have been trained in the safe transportation of disabled customers, by one of our three in house trainers who are trained to the MIDAS/Pats standard.

Having supplied the council with all the relevant documentation required, Streamline has been issued their Private Hire Operator’s license in accordance with section three, pages 66 to 72 of the Blue Book in relation to fully complying with all the terms and conditions laid down by the council.

The moment UBER complies with all these conditions then a license must be issued, but as they have been aware of these conditions many months ago and nothing appears to have been done, then they must not receive a license until all these conditions have been met – the same as everyone else.

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Its one of those banging your head against a wall type moments

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

They've been refused a license down here, can't quiet meet the PH guidelines...