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All London black cabs will support contactless from next week
London's entire black cab fleet will be required to carry readers to process card and contactless payments as of Monday October 31st, Transport for London (TfL) has announced today. This is no great surprise, of course. The ball began rolling on the new rule late last year, and TfL set an October deadline this past March. For now, all that's asked of black cabbies is they have the facility, but from January next year readers will have to be mounted on the passenger side of the glass. Some hackney carriages have supported card payments for years, but for the majority of cabbies cash has remained king. From next week, though, it'll no longer be optional.
Uber cries foul over London Mayor's plan to support black cabs
It's no secret that London's black cab trade has suffered as Uber's popularity has grown, but Mayor Sadiq Khan has further plans to level the playing field. As part of new proposals geared towards supporting the capital's iconic Hackney carriages, Khan wants to integrate black cab info into the Transport for London (TfL) journey planner by next summer. While it's likely you'll still have to use services like Gett, Hailo, or the old-school wave to hail them, it would increase awareness of this option and highlight potential time savings over public transportation.
Google Maps makes it easier to hail a ride that isn't Uber
For almost two years now you've been able to open up the Google Maps app, type in a destination and see how much an Uber would cost. If you like the price, you can tap the button, instantly pop into the Uber app and request a car. It's a neat addition, but one that can also be a little unhelpful if you prefer other ride-hailing and taxi-booking apps. To help, Google is teaming up with a bunch of new providers and integrating their services into Google Maps. These are 99Taxis in Brazil, Ola Cabs in India, Hailo in the UK and Spain, mytaxi in Germany and Spain, and Gett in the UK.
London taxis must accept contactless payments from October
It's official: London's entire black cab fleet will be required to accept card and contactless payments from October this year. The new regulation received final approval from the Transport for London (TfL) Board today, after the authority and Mayor Boris Johnson championed the proposal late last year. Some of the capital's Hackney carriages already take cards, of course, and apps like Hailo and Gett can simplify the payment process further where they're supported. But, for a decent proportion of black cabs, cash is still king.
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Cabbies look to raise £600,000 to contest Uber's London licence
Under pressure from black cabbies and traditional private hire operators, Transport for London (TfL) is currently entertaining new regulations that could cause serious problems for Uber and its business model. But Action for Cabbies, a company brought to you by the Save Taxi campaign group, thinks it's too little too late. Today, it has announced its intention to seek a judicial review of the licence TfL granted Uber way back in 2012, and it hopes to fund the legal action by raising £600,000 in crowdfunded cash.
London's black cabs become moving traffic billboards
Driving around London can be nightmarish at the best of times, but no more so than when you end up sandwiched in an inescapable gridlock. Transport for London's latest tech trial is hoping to make journeys though the capital that bit more pleasant, by using taxi-top signage that tells nearby vehicles where to avoid. Kicking off today, the six-month experiment sees 200 of London's finest black cabs fitted with digital advertising boards that also broadcast live traffic warnings. For now they're able to give you a heads-up on delays in up to London 50 areas, but should the signage be more widely deployed, the idea is to provide richer, real-time updates on congestion as traffic jams are taking shape. Whether we can get our Uber drivers to take the cautionary advice on board? Probably not.
London's future black cabs are going green
In a few years, the familiar hum of diesel engines powering London's black cabs will begin to be replaced by the whirring motors of more efficient vehicles. The London Taxi Company, which for time immemorial has built the overwhelming majority of the capital's Hackney carriages, today unveiled its next-generation hybrid vehicle. The TX5, which takes several design cues from taxis past, marries a four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor and "range-extended battery." The plug-in hybrid will also come with WiFi as standard and charging points for passengers, as well as six seats, more legroom and a panoramic glass roof. Currently, the TX5 is just a prototype, but the plan is to get these new vehicles on the road by the end of 2017.
London's High Court rules Uber is legal, but its troubles aren't over
Uber and other ride-hailing services like it have completely changed the way we interact with on-demand transport. But being a new, popular force in a traditional industry has its downsides. When Uber isn't taking flak from local taxi firms, it's sitting in a courtroom trying to justify the legality of its business model. This is true the world over, and it's no different in London, where the capital's High Court has just ruled that the way Uber calculates fares is legal. It's a huge win for the company, because if the decision had gone the other way, it would've effectively outlawed Uber's entire London fleet, and possibly set a precedent for other UK cities to follow suit.
High Court to decide Uber's London fate in October
A long-running legal dispute between Uber and the UK's Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) may soon come to an end. Starting on October 5th, the High Court will hold a hearing with both parties and Transport for London (TfL) to determine whether the smartphones used by Uber drivers are technically the same as taximeters.
London's black cabbies launch another anti-Uber campaign
The squabble between Uber and the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA), champion of London's black cabbies, is on hiatus for the moment. The LTDA maintains Uber's fare-calculation method is illegal, and after pressuring Transport for London (TfL) to come to the same conclusion, the matter was deferred to London's High Court for a definitive ruling. Legal challenges the LTDA brought against individual Uber drivers threw a spanner in those works, though, with the High Court saying it won't be getting involved until these cases have been concluded. It's unlikely the LTDA wants public interest and scrutiny of Uber's operations to wane during drawn-out legal proceedings, and it's this worry we suspect has been the catalyst for the LTDA's latest protest. Instead of focusing on questionable regulation of the taxi service, though, the new campaign aims to discredit Uber for allegedly dodging tax.
Hailo's Uber-like private car service launches in London
Hailo's long been a friend to London's black cabbies, giving drivers another way to find punters through its mobile app. With competition from upstart Uber already rubbing black cab drivers up the wrong way, they went as far as vandalizing Hailo's HQ when the company announced that it, too, was going to launch a private car service in London. Undeterred, the new HailoExec option has started to roll out to Hailo's iOS and Android apps, meaning you can request a ride in one of the company's new, in-house fleet of luxury motors. Hailo's own drivers might not possess the same Knowledge as black cabbies, but getting lost in the labyrinthine streets of London won't be a burden on your wallet, as you're quoted the full cost of the journey before you set off.
London's black cab body takes Uber drivers to court but delays chance of making real change
If last month's protest wasn't a big enough hint, London's black cabbies are far from pleased with losing business to disruptive competitor Uber. The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association (LTDA) is adamant that Uber operates outside the law, as private vehicles aren't allowed to carry taximeters. Transport for London (TfL) has plainly concluded the way Uber calculates fares using a mobile app is not the same as operating a taximeter, and is completely legal. Tired of constantly repeating itself, TfL has referred the dispute to London's High Court, and this escalation offers a glimmer of hope to black cabbies, in that the law or the current interpretation of it could change to validate the taximeter argument.
Black cab feud with Uber will be decided by London's High Court
It's safe to say that London's black cabbies don't like Uber, or anything like it. While it could simply be that they're bothered by the new-style competition, traditional taxi drivers also argue Uber's use of smartphones to calculate fares is illegal, since private cars aren't allowed taximeters. Transport for London (TfL) doesn't believe they're the same thing, and it has long said it's happy that Uber complies fully with regulations (as the company itself has pointed out). To add more legal weight to its stance, TfL has now asked the High Court to step in. All interested parties will have a chance to say their piece before the court gives a definitive ruling on whether Uber acts within the law. The decision isn't expected for several months at the earliest, but in the meantime black cabbies are planning a protest against Uber in London on June 11th. [Image credit: sjiong / Flickr]
Uber shows defiance following pressure from London's black cabs
Uber's used to taking heat from traditional taxi organizations that'd rather the new breed not muscle in on their turf; including in London, where black cabbies are expected to protest against the car service next month. Even Hailo, which for years has given the capital's iconic cabs an app-based platform for finding customers, suffered backlash last week after announcing its intention to include private hire services in the future. Without referring to either of these events specifically, Uber's taken to its blog today to "clarify a few things," or rather, tell black cabbies where to go.
EE launches free 4G WiFi service in (some) London black cabs
So, previous taxi WiFi solutions were too slow, or you weren't underground. What's a smartphone-tethered Londoner on the hunt for WiFi supposed to do? The current answer is to flag down one of London's 40 4GEE taxis, all of which will be loaded with WiFi router connected to EE, the UK's only LTE network. If you're not dahhn sahhf, you'll still be able to pick up the signal in ten cabs that'll be circling Birmingham. Ironically, these 4G-ready black cabs will no longer be black. Nope, they'll be coated in the turquoise hues of the EE network, which should make them easier to spot. Anyone living in either metropolis should have no troubles keeping up with new Doctor Who, Downton Abbey or Peep Show ever again. At least for the next three months, which is how long the service is set to last.
Free WiFi service for London's black cabs approved
Soon there will be no where left to hide in London Town. The city is quickly becoming one giant WiFi hotspot, just as mayor Boris Johnson promised. Its iconic red phone boxes, the Thames, the Underground and even a minicab company have all been hooked up with free wireless. Now a plan has been approved to turn every famous black cab into a rolling 802.11 beacon. Company Eyetease has received approval from Transport for London to equip the vehicles with WiFi antennas that will provide 15 minutes of free high-speed data in exchange for sitting through a 15-second commercial. As the cabs ride through the city, the on board router will dynamically switch between 3G and 4G networks to maintain a constant connection. And, in an effort to get cab drivers hooked for the early 2013 launch, the CabWiFi service will provide special driver accounts that provide unlimited and commercial free service. The only thing left to do is figure out what it says about the city that its residents can't go 15 minutes in a cab without high speed internet access. Maybe you can Google it at the next red light.
Sound Taxi composes music from London city buzz, doesn't even take a fare
What you see above isn't just another shameless car stereo project, but a black cab that turns the hustle and bustle of city noise into music. The Sound Taxi toured London last week collecting ambient sound pollution with a roof-mounted mic, recycling it through production software and then pumping out real-time mixes on its army of speakers and horns. The mobile disco was a collaboration between headphone company AiAiAi and Yuri Suzuki, with Mark McKeague providing the back-end wizardry which turned clamor into samples into tracks. If you'd like to hear the fruits of their labor, then head over to the Make The City Sound Better website (sourced below) for some uploaded examples of London street beats.
Nissan's e-NV200 all-electric van earmarked for a London taxi makeover
Buried within an announcement from Nissan about its NV200 diesel compact van hitting the London streets, the company has also outed its plans to trial the all-electric variant for ferrying people around the city. The e-NV200 went from concept to reality earlier this year, shortly after the diesel version got a New York paint job and was branded the "Taxi of Tomorrow." The NV200 has satisfied all legal requirements and is set to challenge the iconic London black cab with its lower emissions, greater efficiency and, of course, competitive pricing. The e-NV200 prototype (not to be confused with the soon-to-be certified diesel version) is scheduled for testing in London during 2013. However, Nissan does note that rolling out the EV would only be realistic if there's "increasing investment in charging infrastructure" across the capital. [Image Credit: Auto Express]
UK's first fuel cell-powered black cab hits the streets of London
It may not look much different than your average black cab on the outside (decals aside), but it's quite a different story under the hood of this taxi, which has just been deemed road legal in the UK. Developed by Intelligent Energy, the cab actually includes both a fuel cell with a 30 kW net output and a 14 kWh lithium polymer battery pack, which combined promise to provide enough juice for a full day of operation -- along with a top speed of 81 MPH and acceleration from zero to sixty in fourteen seconds. Londoners won't be seeing them everywhere just yet, however, as the company only expects the first fleet to be ready sometime next year in time for the 2012 Olympics.
