Taxi Driver Online

If members of the Uber team approached council officials to shake their hands, then it would have been incredibly rude for them to refuse.

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IDFIMH

Sussex, I'm not actually sure if it's been granted yet, or if that was still to be decided after the meeting.

It was reported in the press that because the all the objections were invalid then the application went through unopposed:


But the councillor who made all the thinly veiled digs at officialdom in the article further up the thread posted this on her Facebook page (this is just a broadly similar version of that earlier press article):


So she's saying it's still a live matter, which I took to mean that because there were no valid objections then it would be delegated to officials to decide (which would be what normally happens - it normally only goes to committee if there are objections raised, as far as I know).

But maybe she just means that it's still disputed and/or subject to appeal, or whatever.

Or maybe she's just spinning a line. Or something like that

But I'm just leaving them all to get on with it. In the meantime, at least

She is talking rubbish.

Uber made the application, which officials passed on to the committee to decide on.

The committee deemed that there were no lawful objections, so passed the application unopposed.

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IDFIMH

Came across this that a driver had posted on social media about why Uber hadn't gotten going in Dundee

Not sure what the source of this is - it's got a kind of AI vibe about it (although it falls down a bit right at the end...). And obviously the thing about cross-border enforcement isn't unique to Dundee, and applies across the whole of Scotland:



Despite Uber opening a physical dispatch office at the Flour Mill complex in Dundee city centre, the app has effectively remained a "ghost town" with constant "no availability" messages for users. Which is a textbook example of a highly successful local trade blockade.

The strategy used by Dundee taxi firms worked due to several unique factors:

1. The "Us or Them" Ultimatum

Local Dundee taxi companies recognized that Uber relies entirely on recruiting existing, locally licensed drivers to launch quickly. By issuing a strict ultimatum—if you log onto Uber, you are permanently banned from our circuits—they leveraged the drivers' financial security. Drivers knew that leaving an established local firm for an unproven app could mean losing their steady, guaranteed income with no way to return if Uber failed.

2. Tight-Knit Local Networks

Unlike massive cities like London or Manchester, Dundee has a highly consolidated taxi market with strong, unified representation (like the Dundee Taxi Association). Because the driver community is smaller and close-knit, enforcing a collective boycott against the app was incredibly effective.

3. Strict Council Enforcement

Dundee City Council enforces stringent local licensing boundaries. Uber cannot easily bypass a local driver shortage by flooding Dundee with out-of-town drivers, because Scotland's cross-border hiring laws prevent drivers licensed in places like Edinburgh or Glasgow from picking up local fares inside Dundee.

Why this Matters for Fife

This exact "Dundee Model" is precisely what taxi operators in Fife are looking at right now. Local drivers in Fife have explicitly pointed to Dundee as living proof that even if Uber wins the legal right to a booking office from the council, they cannot operate without wheels on the ground. If Fife's local firms can replicate Dundee's driver boycott, Uber's app in Fife may face the exact same oh and the cross borders applies right accross Scotland