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Dial-a-Cab
driver Jon Robinson (E88) sent a Sunday Times
article to the office for Call Sign to look at
concerning San Francisco "cab" company Uber, who say they
intend coming to London with their US app system of hiring
stretch limo cabs. According to the article (A limo at your fingertips) it will soon be possible to hail a luxury car and uniformed driver by using an iPhone or Android mobile. The fare would be deducted from your account online. The Uber service currently operates in San Francisco and according to co-founder, Travis Kalanick, intends expanding into European capitals after covering the USA! What London Taxis and Private Hire would have to say about that isn’t known – although we think we can safely guess! How does it work? Users just download a free app to their phone and when they need a "cab" they launch it. The app knows where you are through its’ GPS hardware and the nearest Uber driver apparently turns up in his / her stretch limo to pick you up. A glass of wine for the journey? No problem! According to Mr Kalanick, Uber currently have 120 drivers but have "successfully handled tens of thousands of trips." Using limos such as a Lincoln sedan would – according to the article by Matt Bingham - probably cost double the cost of a taxi but that the waiting time when ordered is no more than 15 minutes – at least that’s the claim for San Francisco. Would Londoners welcome Uber? Would they be allowed to operate their scheme? Are they so far ahead of companies such as Dial-a-Cab technically? According to DaC’s Network Administrator, Jon Winterburn, Uber have nothing that we don’t already have. Jon told Call Sign that while DaC do not have a specific app for the iPhone itself, that is because Jon says not everyone has an iPhone, |
Stretch limos plying for hire in London?
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 with many now using BlackBerrys (and Android) smartphones. DaC has an app that when visited on your smartphone, detects the type of phone being used and then displays the booking app in the appropriate size and format for the user’s smartphone. In particular, if it detects an iPhone, it presents the user with a web app that looks and works exactly like an iPhone app. This means that DaC’s app reaches all users and they do not need to download and install anything on their phone as it is all on the web. Call Sign then spoke to Christopher Fulkerson PhD who is a San Francisco cab medallion holder with 20 years experience. He told us that Uber were originally working "on the sly" knowing they were in violation of certain local ordinances. They eventually got "busted" and had to reorganise but that even now, you can call them what you like but they are still sedans and not cabs. Christopher’s use of the word "sedans" could be changed for "cars" in London. Either way they are not cabs as San Franciscans or Londoners recognise the word. He then makes the important point that also applies to London: "Sedan operations may only be used for pre-scheduled pickups, never for flagging with a hail. Uber and all other sedan operations push the envelope on this regulation when they do not openly violate it. They try to claim that a call 10 |
 minutes in advance is a ‘pre-arranged’ call and nobody but them believes this is so. When Uber boasts that they can get to an order within fifteen minutes, they are telling you they are breaking the pre-arranged service ordinance." Christopher added that he believes that the chief message about Uber’s success is that people are enthusiastic about spending more if they can get reliable service. As such, they don't mind being part of a black market operation. He estimates that their prices are 2.5 times higher than a San Francisco taxicab. He ended on a note that Dial-a-Cab drivers will understand only too well: "In the sedan industry, it may be that Uber is a well-run company and its passengers are enthusiastic. But the industry as a whole is so rife with corruption that many sedan drivers simply take their licence plates off on Friday or Saturday nights - and I have yet to hear of a police officer stopping one of them for that reason. I am not saying Uber does this, but it is important to understand the niche in which they are operating." As a final word, Call Sign took a look at the Uber app on the App store. There was just one review of Uber’s app. It said: "Absolutely useless app, pointless concept!" So will they come to London? You tell us… |
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