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Uber Brighton



Herr Tubthumper

Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,467
The Fatherland
ForestRowSeagull said:
By better quality and lower prices? The taxi industry has needed a shake up for a long time. I won't ever use a black cab again in London and suspect uber will do very well in Brighton too, or will cause Brighton cabs to up their game, which would be a good result too!
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What do you mean by it needs a shake up? Maybe it does but this doesn't mean allowing the profession a race to the bottom.....like so many other sectors have now experienced. Brighton and London taxis are not perfect, see my earlier post about my own experience and the Tuk Tuk thing was crap, but imho their livelihoods are worth protecting and that means not being severely undercut by uber.

I think professions are worth keeping...I'll stick with proper taxis.
 




Herr Tubthumper

Herr Tubthumper

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NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,467
The Fatherland
lost in london said:
Profession? I don't think having a driving licence is a profession.
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Is having a screwdriver a profession? Is having a sink plunger a profession? It can be.
 
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The Spanish

The Spanish

Well-known member
Aug 12, 2008
6,477
P
Herr Tubthumper said:
What do you mean by it needs a shake up? Maybe it does but this doesn't mean allowing the profession a race to the bottom.....like so many other sectors have now experienced. Brighton and London taxis are not perfect, see my earlier post about my own experience and the Tuk Tuk thing was crap, but imho their livelihoods are worth protecting and that means not being severely undercut by uber.

I think professions are worth keeping...I'll stick with proper taxis.
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Couldn't agree more.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
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Jul 11, 2003
59,467
The Fatherland
middletoenail said:
The hotel industry are trying to put AirBnB out of action too, but like Uber, the people who use them are (generally) quite happy.

If you don't like marmite, don't eat it, but feck off telling me what I can and can't like!
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And the people having their wages screwed into the ground ain't.
 








T

taz

Active member
Feb 18, 2015
161
Trouble with uber Brighton is they are using tfl London minicabs, as they have managed to only recruit two drivers who are Brighton licenced,, I know the local council are very concerned about the situation as it stands,,,in London between February 2015 and February 2016 there were 32 reported sexual assaults in London uber cars,, this year's figures although not released yet are expected to show a large increase in sex assault numbers,, (freedom of information request 2016020000642) ,,London licence over 600 new minicab drivers every week but this is expected to fall dramatically with the new English language test and topography test which has just been introduced this month !!
 








Magicman

Magicman

Active member
Jul 19, 2011
292
Elm Grove
When Uber were granted their Brighton operating license they told the council that they would only use existing Brighton licensed drivers or newly qualified ones. I work as a taxi driver in Brighton and have done for the last 12 years. Now i honestly do not have a problem with competition , in fact i welcome it if only to "keep us all on our toes" so to speak. The number of Brighton drivers that have "defected" to uber are as i understand the grand sum of 2. Yep 2 drivers , both of whom are deemed "fit and proper" by Brighton licensing and asked to adhere to the "blue book" (a comprehensive book of terms and conditions of licensing).
Following the launch of uber in Brighton a few weeks back the lack of drivers (as some of you have seen when logging on to their app) has caused uber to draft in cars and drivers from outside of Brighton , mainly cars licensed by Transport for London to "help them out". Now the licensing conditions of these cars is no where near as stringent as a Brighton car , no compulsory cctv being the most noteable.
The cab trade in Brighton isnt perfect by any means but it is regulated. Should you ever encounter a problem in a Brighton cab then you at least have a point of contact. Firstly you can contact the company the driver works for , no joy there then contact the licensing department at Hove town hall.Every journey in Brighton is recorded on cctv , in my cab the audio is also recorded and stored for a minimum of 30 days. I have no access to the encrypted hard drive , thats done by an independent data controller should it ever need accessing.
As i said earlier i have no problem with Uber or any Licensed Brighton driver that chooses to work for them. i just want the playing field to be level and at this moment in time it clearly is not.
 






T

taz

Active member
Feb 18, 2015
161
Actual uber surge prices for Saturday night on 26th Nov,, city centre to amex £21-£28,, West Street to Brighton marina £15-£20,,city centre to Gatwick south terminal £107-142,, city centre to Heathrow terminal 3, £236-£315, , all prices for four passenger vehicles,,,
 


Magicman

Magicman

Active member
Jul 19, 2011
292
Elm Grove
taz said:
Actual uber surge prices for Saturday night on 26th Nov,, city centre to amex £21-£28,, West Street to Brighton marina £15-£20,,city centre to Gatwick south terminal £107-142,, city centre to Heathrow terminal 3, £236-£315, , all prices for four passenger vehicles,,,
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I saw this Taz and actually welcome the surge pricing. If the public want to pay double the going rate thats up to them. I feel they will lose more custom as a result.
 






S

Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
23,830
GOSBTS
Seasidesage said:
Never used one never will there 'dynamic' pricing model that ended with people paying £300 to get away from central London on 7/7 did it for me.
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Do you actually mean black cabs ?
 


HHGull

HHGull

BZ fan club
Dec 29, 2011
662


R

Rowdey

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
2,536
Herne Hill
Herr Tubthumper said:
And the people having their wages screwed into the ground ain't.
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Fair bit of safety too - All hotels and B+B's will have electrical and gas safety checks, and will contribute towards local revenue (vat/rates etc)
 


Lord Bracknell

Lord Bracknell

On fire
Jul 5, 2003
39,499
104 Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair
GOM said:
Uber is big here in Leeds but seems to operate in a different way to Brighton/London from what I read on here.

In Leeds Uber had to register a a licensed Hire company and meet all rules that all such companies have to. All drivers have to be registered with the council and registered that the company the obtain work from is Uber (still use own cars and self-employed). Cars in Leeds have to be less than 5 years old. They have to operate in exactly the same way as any other hire co. in Leeds, just a different booking mechanism.
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What legal powers does Leeds City Council have to prevent out of city private hire vehicles coming into the city to provide services? Exactly the same as in Brighton, I guess - ie none.
 




mickybha

mickybha

Well-known member
Jan 2, 2010
514
Its London uber drivers that are working down here in Brighton & Hove

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/uber-squeeze-pushes-drivers-to-16-hour-day-8gmllwhk2

Uber drivers are working up to 21 hours a day to make ends meet as the company increases its cut of fares and fights a ruling giving them employment rights.
Drivers in London and Manchester interviewed last week told of regularly working hours that Uber itself describes as “unsafe”. The Sunday Times has seen official Uber documentation proving one of the men worked a 91-hour week.
The disclosures come as new figures show a dramatic rise in casualties involving taxis and private hire vehicles in London.
In interviews with 12 Uber drivers waiting at Heathrow between 9pm and 10pm last Wednesday, The Sunday Times found three who admitted working 16 hours or more a day. Tom Bagaza, from High Wycombe, said: “On average every day [I work] 14 hours, and 16 is top whack. I had a colleague last week who said he had worked 19 hours. I know people who even sleep in the car, and they go crazy.”
Bagaza said he never worked more than 16 hours. However, he then added: “I can start at six o’clock in the morning and finish the following day at maybe two o’clock, three o’clock,” a 20 or 21-hour day.
A second driver, who declined to be named, said he had been driving since 5am, more than 16 hours before, though his first four hours were as a newspaper delivery driver, not for Uber. If allocated a long job from the airport he would clock up 19 hours’ driving that day, he said.
Corrado Mitzoni, another driver waiting at Heathrow, said he had started driving at 9.40am, 12 hours before. If the job he was allocated proved a long one his day would extend to around 14 hours. “This is one of the longest days I’ve done,” he said.
A fourth Uber driver, Kristian Vassilesko, said the longest day he had done was 16 hours. “I begin to feel tired,” he said. “We have no limits. If the tariff could be a bit higher, it would be better.” Three other drivers could not be interviewed because they were asleep in their cars. One had installed curtains in the vehicle.
Uber drivers in Manchester on Friday night told a similar story. One, Khaled, said: “We need to speak the truth. I work 70-80 hours a week and weekends it’s 14-16 hours a day. It’s very, very stressful but I don’t have a choice. I feel like I’m a slave; we work like slaves for this company.” The legal limit for a bus or lorry driver is 56 hours a week.
Figures published by Transport for London last week show there has been a 26% rise in casualties among taxi and minicab passengers in the past year. The number of passengers killed or seriously injured rose from 13 to 20, a 54% rise.
In New York, Uber recently banned drivers from working more than 12 hours a day. Its general manager in the city, Josh Mohrer, said: “It is unsafe to use the Uber app for more than 12 hours at a time.” Some London minicab companies, including Addison Lee, have also imposed a 12-hour limit.
However, Uber UK said it had no plans to follow suit. In London, for new drivers, it has increased the cut it takes on fares from 20% to 25%, forcing them to drive for longer to earn the same money.
The company suffered a blow last week when an employment tribunal ruled that Uber drivers were not self-employed, and were entitled to holiday pay, pensions and other workers’ rights. It is appealing. Official Uber documents from the case, seen by The Sunday Times, show one of the successful claimants, James Farrar, worked 91 hours in one week in June 2015.
Farrar said last night: “I felt like a zombie. It was pretty awful. But the only variable a driver has [to increase earnings] is to drive more.” An induction manual for drivers produced by Uber speaks of “typical earnings . . . based on [a] 55-65-hour week”.
Steve Garelick, of the professional drivers’ branch of the GMB union, said: “Through the app, Uber knows precisely how long everyone has been available. It and other operators could stop this overnight if they wanted to. They’ve made the effort to limit hours in New York, so what’s wrong with London?”
Tom Elvidge, general manager of Uber London, said that three-quarters of Uber drivers in the capital were logged in to the app for less than 40 hours a week. “We regularly advise drivers to take rest breaks,” he said. “We take this issue very seriously and are always looking into ways to improve the overall safety of the app.”
 


Herr Tubthumper

Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
59,467
The Fatherland


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