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Uber loses licence to operate in London, will still operate while appealing

(www.bbc.com)
256 points reubensutton | 4 comments | 25 Nov 19 10:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.617s | source
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caithrin ◴[25 Nov 19 10:50 UTC] No.21626966[source]▶
"Only in the last few months it has been established that 14,000 Uber journeys have involved fraudulent drivers uploading their photos to other driver accounts - with passengers' safety potentially put at risk getting into cars with unlicensed and suspended drivers."

This seems, from a technical perspective, an easy problem to solve with the resources of a public company.

Is it the desperation of people who need the money so badly they will constantly cheat the system? Can you design for that?

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xwolfi ◴[25 Nov 19 10:53 UTC] No.21626979[source]▶
I wonder what we could do, let's think...maybe...a taxi medalion with a public exam ? :D

They tried to solve the problem from the wrong angle, and it turns out that the high cost of taxis, while suboptimal for sure, might not be entirely for no reason.

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ReptileMan ◴[25 Nov 19 10:55 UTC] No.21626986[source]▶
Only if the exam is cheap (not easy) and number of medallions is unlimited. (I got your joke, don't worry)
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1. bengillies ◴[25 Nov 19 11:03 UTC] No.21627021[source]▶
The prices are listed on this page[1]. Looks pretty expensive to me.

[1] https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing...

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2. sacheendra ◴[25 Nov 19 11:10 UTC] No.21627054[source]▶
< 1000 pounds for what is basically license for a livelihood seems cheap.
3. Symbiote ◴[25 Nov 19 11:13 UTC] No.21627068[source]▶
That is for the "black cab" taxis, the ones you can hail by waving on the street.

For a private hire vehicle (the kind you telephone or use an app to book), the price is under £700 (under £500 if the driver speaks English).

That doesn't seem unreasonable. The GP comment was referring to the American system where the license are traded at very high costs (tens, hundreds of thousands of dollars).

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing...

4. michaelt ◴[25 Nov 19 11:23 UTC] No.21627120[source]▶
Those are the prices for becoming a black cab driver (allowed to respond to street hails and use taxi ranks) - to drive for Uber only requires a "private hire driver" license.

The private hire license avoids the need for "the knowledge" and to have the traditional London black cab. There are still fees involved, of course - but becoming an Uber driver is much less demanding than becoming a black cab driver.