http://www.cribble.eu/press.htmlCribble signs TFL licensed operator for London14 February 2019
Cribble is a software platform that allows customers to pick their preferred driver for a ride.
Most driver apps control prices and assign drivers to customers. The driver then takes the job blind.
Cribble turns this model on its head by letting customers buy a ride in the same way as they would buy a book on Amazon.
Drivers can surge or discount the standard prices and set preferred destinations in the knowledge that they are competing with other drivers for the best rides.
Customers can check the available drivers, the prices on offer and then pick the driver/car that they prefer for a fixed price ride which can be paid with cash or a pre-registered card.
The driver can review the price, route and destination before accepting the ride.
Since the process to order and accept was fully transparent everyone is happy.
The price is right for all parties because Cribble creates a fair market where sellers set prices and buyers select the best deal based on transparent market information.
The Cribble platform has been adopted by Pro Transfers Limited, a TFL licensed operator who will offer the service under the Cribble brand in London.
Online registration is now open with a formal launch scheduled for 11 March 2019.
Update
9 March 2019
Due to unreasonable threats from TFL, Pro Transfers Limited will no longer operate the Cribble service in London.
TFL Licensed drivers sign-up for fair payMonday 18th Feb 2019
Cribble will be the preferred way to go once the people of London realise that they can get a fair deal without exploiting the drivers.
Drivers are now registering with the latest taxi app in London because it establishes market rates through fair competition.
Cribble allows the drivers to set prices in competition with each other whilst allowing the passenger to pick their preferred vehicle thereby creating a transparent market driven economy.
The idea of helping drivers to get fair pay comes from Cribble founder Brian Haughan who says “Everyone knows that TFL licensed drivers are exploited. We basically have too many middlemen taking an unfair cut. We are trying to fix this at both ends. Firstly, we will take a low commission. Secondly, we will help the drivers set a market price. Cribble will be the preferred way to go once the people of London realise that they can get a fair deal without exploiting the drivers.”
This breaks the mould of price fixing by TFL for black cabs and the monopolistic approach where other apps set aggressive prices and squeeze the drivers pay.
It also breaks the mould of allocating the vehicle to the passenger which is unfair to the passenger who might be allocated an old banger and unfair to the driver who was next in line with the latest model.
Cribble is a new game for all licensed drivers to compete for fixed price rides on a level playing field where the passenger will pay the right price for their chosen vehicle and driver.
Cribble is now registering drivers in London with a launch date set for 11 March 2019.
Cribble, an original concept in ride-sharing appsMany ride-sharing companies, such as Hopp and Kapten are very keen to start operating in London on an Uber-like model. They have the financial backbone to penetrate London’s market but are lacking something, a TfL operator licence. It is not the case for Cribble. Even if the app-based company does not have the strong back-up of big names, it has an original model and, more importantly, a TfL licence.
A different concept from Uber-like apps Cribble offers something that gives more leverage to drivers in the market dynamics. That is the possiblity for drivers to set its fares and prices. Indeed, the idea is that both riders and drivers interact through the same app via a pre set bidding system. Drivers set their prices and riders select the one that is more suitable for them. The other particluarity of the app is that riders can pay using cash.
In a short interview, Brian Haughan, founder of Cribble tells us a little bit more about the app.
Interview held with Cribble over the phone on 25/02/2019Driver App London – Who are you, where do you come from and where did you start?
Brian Haughan- Brian Haughan, Irish, I am a veteran of FinTech having built and managed national and global payment infrastructures for more than 20 years.
DAP- What is Cribble about?
BH- If there is a line of taxis and they are all charging the same then I want to pick the best one rather than the next one. At the same time, if I was the driver of the best car, I would want to be paid more than my neighbour in the worst car. These are the problems we need to solve.
Cribble is different from other taxi apps because it makes ordering a driver a bit like buying a product on Amazon. The drivers (sellers) pick their price level and advertise their offer. The buyer (rider) sets a route and then sees a selection of nearby drivers with an offer on a map. The offer shows information about the vehicle, the driver and his/her price so that the rider can make an informed purchase for a fixed price. Prices between drivers may vary significantly and so may the vehicles on offer so it is up to the rider to pick the deal that they prefer.
The concept solves two big issues. Firstly, it creates a level playing field where drivers can transparently compete for business and establish market rates to get a fair pay. Secondly, it gives the rider a choice based on a price and clear information about the vehicle and the driver before pressing the buy button.
DAP- Is Cribble TfL Licensed? If yes, where will you operate?
BH- We have been in discussion with TfL over the last 18 months. And yes, Cribble is currently available in London under TfL Operator Licence 009583. Cribble will cover greater London and the Airports.
DAP- Are your Apps Ready? Tell us about the main features.
BH- Yes. Cribble is on the App Store and Google Play.
DAP- And what about the features?
BH- Cribble is a single app for both drivers and riders. So the driver has full knowledge of his competitors before setting a price. He can also consider his preferred mode of working and if a preferred destination will be a helpful tool to get the next ride. Once the decisions are taken the driver can drag an icon to the preferred destination and drag a slider to set the desired surge. The riders app will take all of this into account when quoting on behalf of the driver.
There is no queueing or scheduling of drivers. So it is entirely the responsibility of the driver to put together a competitive offer to get picked by a client. Hence there is no special mode for the airport versus the city. When a rider places an order the driver is shown the destination and price before deciding whether to accept or reject the ride.
The process to enrol as a driver is highly automated within the app with a final approval by the operator.
DAP- What are your fees and pricing?
BH- Our commissions are set at 10% + 40p per ride for the first 5,000 drivers. The base price is £5 start fee plus £5 per 5 miles or part of. So a short ride is £10. The incremental steps is similar to zones in the underground where taking one stop or 5 stops can be the same price. But at some point the price increases significantly because a boundary is passed.
If the driver has set a preferred destination and the ride is in the same direction or within a 3 mile radius of the preferred destination then the basic rate stands. Otherwise Cribble will automatically increase the quote by 50% of the base rate to encourage the driver to accept.
The driver always has the option to surge. The range is restricted to 0.5 on the low end and 3 on the high end with 1 being the base.
DAP- Will you serve airports. If yes, how will it work?
BH- Yes. We will run the calculations as normal taking the driver preferences into account and the requested route. Then, the customer will decide. So it is business as usual but the algorithms will essentially match drivers and passengers who want to go in the same direction.
DAP- What are your launch plans for both drivers and riders?
BH- We started driver recruitment a week ago (interview held on 25/02/2019) and are on track to have 2,000 drivers in March. Once the drivers understand how they can benefit, they are motived to sign-up and can complete the process within an hour. We are opening the Cribble Hub in Paddington on 11 March to expedite the recruitment cycle for those who need assistance.
I can tell you that we are not going to give free rides. And we are not going to advertise with TfL or on television. But we are going to reach out to the people of London who have good hearts. They will sleep better knowing that they paid a little extra to bring their driver above the poverty line. I can’t tell you more right now but it will happen pretty soon.
DAP- How will Cribble grow to other cities and countries?
BH- Cribble is really the technology side of the business. We will be partnering with Operators to implement the solution on the ground.
Cribble slandered on twitter5 March 2019
On Monday 4th March Cribble was heavily attacked on social media including facebook and twitter with tweets reaching 1 million followers of the initiators and their associates.
The allegations that Cribble drivers are not TFL licensed are completely untrue. The misconception arose because the researchers were unable to obtain TFL driving licence details from the TFL website. This is somewhat of an embarrassment for both TFL and the claimant highlighting both the poor usability of the website and the negligence of the author to make false claims on this basis. Clearly, all the Cribble drivers have valid TFL Licenses and can be verified by anyone who can understand the cryptic user interface supplied by TFL. Should the authors have tried to book a ride then the TFL Licence number of the driver would have been provided by Cribble.
Despite this unfair and unhelpful publicity Cribble continues along the path to a launch in London on March 11 with a solution that offers client choice whilst giving the drivers an opportunity to establish market rates through fair competition.
In the mean time, we hope and expect that Tim Fenton @zillo_street and his associates will have the decency to post this correction with the same enthusiasm as they had yesterday.
TFL threatens Cribble7 March 2019
Michael Stack, Interim Head of Licensing, London Taxi and Private Hire | Transport for London has threatened Cribble in a letter to Pro Transfers Limited. Stack said "It is appropriate to warn you that should you look to introduce this solution, we will consider whether licensing action is required to be taken against you as the operator and also against any driver who was available to you and has accepted a booking made via this proposed channel".
This means that TFL might take action if Cribble goes live on March 11.
However, the threat is idle since according to Stack "We recognise that this is a complex area of the law and any decision will need to be carefully considered taking into consideration the circumstances of each case".
This means that TFL can't find any laws that are broken.
In an attempt to explain what the issues might be, Stack said "a number of statutory requirements may not be met".
This is how TFL says "all statutory requirements may be met".
He then tried to explain three concerns which were heavily caveated and had no reference to any specific legislation.
On the other hand, Stack was able to quote precise paragraph numbers and even quote the law to acknowledge that TFL were duly notified of the Cribble operating model.
It's difficult to imagine why TFL would try to obstruct a new model that offers customers choice and tries to bring private hire drivers a little more pay but the politics of black cab drivers and investors with deep pockets cant be ruled out.
The bottom line is that TFL need to put up or shut up.
Cribble is launching in London on 11 March 2019.
Update
7 March 2019
Stack has finally come up with a specific complaint. He asserts that displaying some driver and vehicle information and allowing the client to make a selection on that basis is "unlawful plying for hire" and refers to a similar case that was lost to Uber.
The argument seems to be that a client can pick an UberX but can't pick a 2015 black Toyota with a friendly name of Fred.
Cribble is launching in London on 11 March 2019.
Cribble Launches in London despite TFL threats9 March 2019
Cribble, the driver App that offers customers choice and drivers better pay will launch in London on March 11 without a TFL licensed operator and without TFL licensed drivers.
Cribble has begged TFL to opine for 18 months and they refused to do so until the final hour when they accused Cribble of offering a solution where drivers would be "plying for hire". A test case in July 2018 on the same subject was won by Uber. Somehow TFL imagine that the Cribble solution is so significantly different that they can ban Cribble without a hearing. It's a sham.
With over £1.4M already invested in the App its not a time to give up just because a regulator sends a letter. We would have preferred to resolve this difference of opinion in court but time is of the essence.
We are left with no choice but to launch a new version of our app that doesn't need a TFL licensed operator or TFL licensed drivers. This way, the threats from TFL can't impact the livelihoods of these good people.
We apologise to the TFL drivers who registered on the Cribble App with the TFL licensed operator Pro Transfers in the past weeks. We had no way to know that TFL who added Cribble to their website as a brand of ProTransfers and issued official paper updates to the operator licence would make a u-turn at the 11th hour. It's a disgrace that they didn't opine or explain this "issue" earlier and give us the opportunity to debate. It was a non-transparent decision made behind closed doors. Not legitimate in my view.
The new solution will be different from the system rejected by TFL because it will be completely self-regulated by the users. With the rejected system all drivers had to register various documents and everything was cross checked against the DVLA and TFL databases. The new system won't have any of these controls. Any driver can register just by identifying a type of vehicle (e.g. saloon, convertible, 4*4) and accepting the terms and conditions. Many aspects of the app will remain the same. Drivers will be able to set prices. Clients will be able to pick their driver based on the type of vehicle, picture of the driver and any other description that the driver cares to add. Whilst the drivers will be able to set the price level the unit of pricing will be different. Pricing will be based exclusively on time with the app estimating the time for a journey. It is unknown how the drivers will use the system. Some might transport dogs. Others might transport the uniforms of TFL staff. Others might offer massage services in their vehicles. The system is completely flexible in that regard and like a dating software falls completely outside the realm of TFL. The new system is not designed or priced to carry passengers but there are no controls to prevent such use and consenting adults can do as they wish.
TFL may have won the battle but have lost a seat at the table.
Cribble is launching in London on 11 March 2019
Cribble launches driver gigs in London11 March 2019
Cribble, the driver App that offers customers choice and drivers better pay has launched in London with a brand new concept.
It's not a taxi App where drivers offer rides to passengers. It's an App where drivers can offer gigs to clients.
Drivers simply take a photo of something, describe their vehicle and gig in a few words and can start driving once they have registered to get paid with cards and/or cash.
Clients can set a route and view nearby gigs on a map to pick a gig for a fixed price calculated based on the estimated time for the trip and a multiplier set by the driver.
Cribble doesn't define the gigs. That's the job of the driver and we expect a wide range of services to be offered by the creative drivers who will seize the opportunity.
Base pricing is £5 + £5 per 15 minutes or part thereof but drivers can apply a multiple depending on how they perceive the market and the value-added of their gig. The maximum multiple is 3 and the maximum discount is 50%.
The launch was almost delayed by a hostile attack from TFL on Friday but swift action to redefine the service in a way that takes TFL out of the equation has allowed the launch to proceed on schedule.
Everyone is warned that this is an adult only service where gigs are agreed between consenting adults who each cover their own risks. Commissions of 10%+40p per gig are paid by the driver.
Cribble is available on the App Store and Google Play.
Both clients and drivers can download and install today. Available in London and throughout the UK soon.
Cribble marches on despite ultimatum from TFL11 March 2019
Graham Robinson from TFL has sent Cribble an ultimatum to shutdown our re-vamped app immediately.
To help TFL better understand our brand new concept we have further clarified our published definitions.
"It's not a taxi App where drivers offer rides to passengers. It's an App where drivers can offer gigs to clients."
1) For the avoidance of doubt "taxi" includes all forms of private hire.
2) A gig is "a job that lasts a certain period of time".
We have also highlighted that the language used in the App is :
a) "Get stuff moved"; and
b) "Get paid to move things";
and that the "gig" is how the driver explains the type of stuff that can be moved in his vehicle.
We stand by our position that we can't control what gets moved anymore than TFL can control what gets moved on their busses, roads or black cabs.
However, we are happy to repeat that "Get stuff moved" is not intended to move passengers. We had an app to move passengers that was shutdown on Saturday because it was sabotaged by allegations from TFL.
We remain confident that TFL has no case to make.
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