Taxi Driver Online

Kind of lost track of all the Bolt roll-outs, but these articles have appeared in the last few days. Bradford start up looks just like it's at the stage of planning permission just now, but obviously Bolt using the post-lockdown environment to expand aggressively

So another option for the former Nottingham HCDs driven out by the emissions rules, and at least they're planting a tree for every ride, so it's win-win for the city as far as the environment is concerned. Or at least that's the case at the level of gimmicks


Eastern European taxi firm launches in Sheffield ‘undercutting rivals’ in commission charges

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/transpor ... es-3361662

An Uber-style taxi app based in Eastern Europe has launched in Sheffield to go head to head with Uber and the city’s exiting private hire firms.


Uber taxi rival Bolt confirms plans to launch service in Nottingham

https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on ... ms-5866028

A tree will be planted for every ride within the first month


App based taxi company reveals planned move to Bradford District

https://planetradio.co.uk/pulse1/local/ ... -bradford/

It would be the first part of West Yorkshire to have Bolt services

Interesting as it will be the same cars doing Bolt's work as the cars doing Uber's work.

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IDFIMH

My understanding is that Bolt at least at the start pays large bonuses to drivers over and above the commission received so we'll see how this stacks up against Uber's "benefits"

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Taxis Are Public Transport too

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

Drivers will be able to get Bolt bonuses and Uber holiday pay.

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IDFIMH

It appears Bolt are on fire in Sheffield.

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/people/n ... ch-3380990

Although a 76% increase on SFA seems a very Uber type spin.

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IDFIMH

1,500 car firm in Sheffield urging residents to 'support local'.

Although the firm's 'business development director' says he can't comment on other businesses

Not much to see here other than the 'business development director's' waffle, and had just intended posting a couple of extracts. But by the time I'd fannied around it's easier just to post the whole lot

But that explains why some of the paragraphs might be in the wrong place



Sheffield’s biggest taxi firm in 'support local' call as Estonian firm targets area

https://www.thestar.co.uk/business/shef ... ea-3383713

Sheffield’s biggest taxi firm is urging customers to stick with local firms in the wake of a new rival operator targeting the city.


Image: Scott Merrylees/Sheffield Star

It is now facing competition from the latest app-based service, Bolt, which runs its UK base from Birmingham and was originally set up in Estonia, as well as Uber.

This week Bolt said it had seen a 75 per cent rise in the number of drivers it has since launching in Sheffield at the end of last month.

Sheffield's City Taxi's has announced that their vehicles are going electric. L-R Sinead Gillett icabbi Gavan Walsh icabbi Arnie Singh city taxis Davud Aryan city taxi Mick Tope icabbi Neil Davies RCI bank and services. Picture Scott Merrylees

City Taxis, based near Attercliffe, has been operating in Sheffield since the 1980s, later merging with Alpha Taxis, Regency cars and Mercury taxis, and now has around 1,500 drivers.

It comes after the new firm offered drivers a special introductory deal on the level of commission it charges them, and offered discounts on passengers making their first journey.

City this week said they were focusing on their own business and urged residents to support local firms.

Business development director Paul Gosney: “As a company we have to focus on our own business and cannot comment on others, do what we have been doing for 40 years, providing the people of Sheffield and the Sheffield City Region an excellent service.

“We encourage the public of our operating areas to support local businesses and ensure the revenue stays in the local economy so we can continue to improve our offering through resilience, innovation and most importantly safety.”

City, originally based on City Road, moved to its current base in 2014, the year that it also launched its own booking app in the city.

It has since expanded and now also operates in other towns and cities including Barnsley, Chesterfield and, most recently, in Derby.

Two years ago, they also launched a Citygrab delivery service.

City Taxis also hit the headlines in 2020 when it donated more than £5,000 in fees from its delivery app to the NHS, and last year they were among the firms to donate to The Star’s laptop campaign, which was run to prevent education disruption amongst disadvantaged young people across the city. City donated 30 laptops to the appeal.

But I like these websites where you can just change the size of the photo by changing its width in the URL

I agree with the firm that punters should support local firms.

Problem is, more times than not, punters really don't care.

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IDFIMH

Bolt's Bradford planning application approved, but presumably pretty much a formality.

But obviously from a planning perspective the emphasis is on the fact that booking, despatch and administration is wholly automated, thus no walk-up work.

But I wonder how they'll monitor the claim that the 'number of visitors will be less than one per week'

I like the description in the headline, though. 'Online private hire firm Bolt' a lot more accurate than 'ride-hailing', or whatever


Office space for new-to-District online private hire firm Bolt is approved

https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/ ... -approved/

AN app based private hire firm will get a foothold in the Bradford District after plans for an office in Saltaire were approved.

Bolt describes itself as the UK's second largest ride hailing company. Although it offers services around the country, until recently it did not yet have a West Yorkshire presence.

In Summer the company, which is entirely online based, submitted an application to open a small office in The Waterfront on Salts Mill Road. The plans have now been approved.

The application said that with the business works by customers hailing vehicles via their phone apps. They would not need to access the new office space - which would only take up a small room in the large office building.

Planning officers for Bradford Council said: "The applicant states that the business operation is very much administrative. The operating centre will be used for the digital storage of driver, vehicle and booking records.

"It will be manned during normal office hours Monday to Friday. The number of visitors will be less than one per week.

"The business is an ‘app’ only company. Customers book their car using an app. The bookings are accepted automatically by the business' cloud-based technology at the operating centre/office and allocated to the car. All billing and payments are automated."

I suspect it's because no one will know it's a booking office and no one will be able to physically book a car on site.

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IDFIMH

The statement from the planning officers addressed the point about bookings being app-only, thus I assumed that in that context 'visitors' meant people other than permanent office staff and customers booking a car.

Therefore the most obvious 'visitors' would be drivers, and other people coming to the office on business.

Of course, we all know that even if a planning application states that there's no walk-up work, a normal cab office would have lots of drivers coming and going all the time.

Maybe Bolt won't even be doing that, but a business premises manned during normal office hours would surely be very odd if they didn't have a few vistitors which didn't fit into any of the above categories. So to that degree *less than one visitor per week* seems a bit odd

Not sure drivers need to go to that office for business, most drivers on app firms don't really have an office to visit.

They get paid via the bank, they email their documents in.

In fact I go to the office I work with no more than 4 or 5 times a year.

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IDFIMH

So you're not one of those drivers who spends more time in the office than in their cars, then?

Indeed, you may be right about driver visitors, but not sure where they'd do 'onboarding' and stuff like that, but I think maybe the likes of Uber in London do that at a separate location.

But you'd think a smaller operation like Bolt in Bradford would do all the necessary stuff at the one premises, but who knows?

Not on your f***ing nelly.

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IDFIMH

Can't remember if Bristol's been in the frame previously, but it certainly is now

Half price runs to the first 500 customers


Bolt taxi ordering app launches in Bristol - and it's offering half price rides

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/ ... ts-wrapper

The European service is one of Uber's closest rivals