On Tue, Oct 06, 2015 at 12:47:50AM +0100, JNugent wrote:

The history of the last 55 years or so is littered with people who
wanted to disrupt the taxi industry, always for selfish reasons.

Yes, it's called "profit".

It's the same selfish reason that drives black cab Luddites to whine
about losing their monopoly.

--
David Cantrell | Bourgeois reactionary pig

Are you feeling bored? depressed? slowed down? Evil Scientists may
be manipulating the speed of light in your vicinity. Buy our patented
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On Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 06:18:59PM +0100, JNugent wrote:
On 05/10/2015 16:02, y wrote:
On Mon, 5 Oct 2015 15:54:47 +0100
JNugent wrote:
On 05/10/2015 14:26, David Cantrell wrote:
On Sun, Oct 04, 2015 at 10:34:57PM +0100, JNugent wrote:
There is no such thing as a mini cab.
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/234043
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/
Forgive me if I take their word for it over yours.
The word "cab" has a legal definition.
Is english your 2nd language? When 2 words are combined they generally no
longer mean the same as each original word. For example: a riverbus isn't a
red double decker that happens to float.
The word "cab" still has a legal definition, even if you wish it didn't.

So does "bus". That doesn't stop "data buses" from existing.

--
David Cantrell | A machine for turning tea into grumpiness

Human Rights left unattended may be removed,
destroyed, or damaged by the security services.

On Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 03:45:22PM +0100, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 14:38:01
on Mon, 5 Oct 2015, David Cantrell remarked:
If anything it would increase it. Customers don't want to be forced to
pointlessly wait so would be more inclined to go with a driver offering
an illegal service. I certainly would.
Depends when you think people order a Uber. Is it when they are stood on
the pavement outside the venue in the pouring rain, or perhaps five
minutes earlier when they are inside in the warm and can more
comfortably use their phone to order a car to arrive in five minute's
time?

Different people will do different things. Also, I don't know what it's
like where you live, but here in London it doesn't rain that often.

Last time I summoned an Uber I was already out on the street when I
summoned it. I was at a bus stop and the countdown thingy showed that
there were no convenient buses for another quarter of an hour.

--
header FROM_DAVID_CANTRELL From =~ /david.cantrell/i
describe FROM_DAVID_CANTRELL Message is from David Cantrell
score FROM_DAVID_CANTRELL 15.72 # This figure from experimentation

On Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 03:05:13PM +0000, y wrote:
On Mon, 5 Oct 2015 15:45:22 +0100
Roland Perry wrote:
the pavement outside the venue in the pouring rain, or perhaps five
minutes earlier when they are inside in the warm and can more
comfortably use their phone to order a car to arrive in five minute's
time?
Since thats exactly how people used to order minicabs I'm wondering what
exactly is the killer selling point of Uber.

Just off the top of my head ...

When I'm in deepest darkest Peckham I don't need to know the phone
number of a minicab company in deepest darkest Peckham or even exactly
where I am, I just need to know where I want to go.

When I'm in Krakow I don't need to be able to speak Polish to get a
local minicab, or know their phone number, or make an international
phone call.

I can use my credit card.

It's cheaper than most local minicabs.

They get a car to me quicker than most local minicabs.

If the driver tries to rip me off it's easy to get a refund.

--
David Cantrell | Official London Perl Mongers Bad Influence

Suffer the little children to come unto me, as
their buying habits are most easily influenced.
-- Marketroid Jesus

On Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 03:05:13PM +0000, y wrote:

Other than it means Aspergers types don't actually have to talk to a
person and get all stressed.

That sounds a bit sneery. What about other people with disabilities that
hinder communication? Deaf people, for example?

--
David Cantrell | Minister for Arbitrary Justice

Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity
-- Hanlon's Razor

Stupidity maintained long enough is a form of malice
-- Richard Bos's corollary

On Mon, Oct 05, 2015 at 04:08:52PM +0000, y wrote:

nor explain the address to someone who may not have a shared language.
Right, because Uber drivers are always natives.

You don't have to explain the address to the driver either.

Of course its cheaper - unvetted drivers whose only qualification is owning
a car and smartphone.

ITYM of course it's cheaper, they have economies of scale so lower
overheads per journey.

--
David Cantrell | top google result for "topless karaoke murders"

Blessed are the pessimists, for they test their backups

On 06.10.15 6:12, Robin9 wrote:
;150666 Wrote:
In article ,
(JNugent) wrote:
-
In particular, it is far from clear that Uber's sub-contractor
drivers *are* licensed, even as "private hire" drivers.

Uber themselves claim to do the vetting (and, IIRC, to provide hire
and reward insurance). None of that is necessary in the normal run of
things (the drivers have to deal with these things direct to TFL) and
the fact that Uber claim it undermines any theory that all the
drivers (and their vehicles) are even known to the authorities.-

Are the drivers local authority (or PCO) licensed or not? They are
illegal
if not.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

To repeat an earlier point: TfL have carried out their most thorough
check ever on a minicab firm, and they have found that Uber are
complying with the various regulations. In other words, Uber's drivers
are licensed and have had CRB checks, health and eyesight tests.
They have valid drivers' licences and correct insurance.

The scare propaganda is FUD put out by the black cab trade
because they are not willing to compete in the open market on
even terms and want instead to have their competition made
illegal.




Cartel.

On 05.10.15 20:44, Neil Williams wrote:
On 2015-10-05 15:02:38 +0000, y said:

Is english your 2nd language? When 2 words are combined they generally no
longer mean the same as each original word. For example: a riverbus
isn't a
red double decker that happens to float.

Or Milton Keynes is not a city, but it is a "New City", which is a term
coined by the CNT to simply mean a large New Town.

Neil
When is the PRT in Milton Keynes sue to start operating, BTW?

On 2015\10\04 14:56, Neil Williams wrote:
On 2015-10-04 10:20:19 +0000, Roland Perry said:

It's not necessarily important for every private hire vehicle to offer
disability access, because the are pre-booked. As long as each firm
has some minimum number of such vehicles available if requested, that
should be sufficient.

Indeed. The principle should be that the accessible vehicles are
available on the same terms as the non-accessible ones (e.g. they are
kept available for such bookings such that the bookings are satisfied
within the same sort of time period as for a non-accesible vehicle) not
that every vehicle has to be accessible.

.... which implies that the drivers buying and fuelling the most
expensive vehicles are deliberately given the least work so that they
will always be available. This could only be achieved if the model by
which minicab drivers are paid was changed to a normal employment
situation, and they would then acquire normal holiday / sick pay /
pregnancy leave rights, which would massively inflate the price charged
to the user, which would then destroy minicabs' number one selling point
and ultimately put all the minicab drivers back on the dole.

In message , at
05:10:58 on Tue, 6 Oct 2015, remarked:

I'm talking about the very right wing "Devil take the hindmost" approach
to those not kitted out with all the very latest expensive technology.

A smartphone with GPS and access to google maps is not "the very latest
expensive technology", it's cheap commodity off the shelf technology
that most people already have. You can buy an android handset SIM free
for about £100 these days.

And roaming data?

Getting back to the "Knowledge" thing, it's never been the case that you
needed to point to your destination on a map when instructing a minicab
driver. If it's not possible to describe the destination to them so they
recognise it, they have an A to Z

So your point is you don't have to point out your destination on a map
because they have a map (on which you can point out your destination)?

No, I don't point at their paper map because I don't know exactly where
the destination is. It's their job to translate the description of the
destination to co-ordinates.

That's nonsense because the minicab is driving around the streets all
day, every day of the week. Of course he'll be more familiar than I am
about where some random destination I've never been before might be
located.

What's your point here? Before you were arguing that minicab drivers
might not know where you are going and how terrible that was, and now
you are saying that minicab drivers will know where they are going
because they drive around the place all the time and get to know the
neighbourhood. Well which is it?

It's the way that Uber drivers can apparently fail to concede they have
any local knowledge about destinations, because it's the passenger's
responsibility to point to a location on a map.

You've been banging on about all these places you might want to go that
can't be found on google maps, and then when you give an example you
chose one that can be found on google maps in a trifle. So where are
all these places people want to go that can't be found on google maps?

Your starter for ten: The Ely Post Office.

You might be happy to do this, but it is definitely not the most
"timely and affordable" way of doing things.

It's more affordable than buying a smartphone.

So is staying at home. You specifically didn't say "cheapest
possible", you chose to argue on a condition, "timely and affordable".
Smartphones are not expensive these days and have myriad uses beyond
finding public transport.

Are we really arguing about the difference between "most affordable" and
"cheapest possible". If so I give up.

And where I live there are only two bus stops in the High Street, twenty
feet apart.

Which is not in London. As this is uk.transport.london, I figured an
example of buses in London would be a more appropriate example.

London is big enough, I could find a similar example if I wanted to.
--
Roland Perry