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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.
Hailo gets help from car giant Daimler to take on Uber
With ridesharing services becoming more popular by the day, car makers are starting to take notice. General Motors has already sunk $500 million into Lyft, Volkswagen ploughed $300 million into Gett and Daimler quietly boosted its portfolio when it nabbed MyTaxi and RideScout in 2014. In a bid to expand its presence in Europe, Daimler -- owner of Mercedes-Benz -- today announced a merger between MyTaxi and Hailo as part of a new strategic investment designed to take on Uber.
Hailo opens mobile payments to all of London's black cabs
After ditching its private hire business and recommitting to London's black cabs, Hailo has been pulling out all of the stops to get traditional taxi services back onside. On top of campaigning "every level of government" to protect the industry and reinforcing the benefits of the Knowledge, the company today announced HailoPay, a new service that let London's 22,500 black taxis offer free mobile payments to customers.
Hailo ditches private hire vehicles and recommits to black cabs
As the debate over whether private hire taxi apps like Uber are good for London continues to rage on, Hailo has announced it has resigned its licence and will go back to supporting regular black cabs. In a statement, Andrew Pinnington, CEO of Hailo, confirmed that the company will become a champion for the licenced taxi trade in London by campaigning "every level of government, every day" to protect the industry. It also intends to reinforce the benefits of the Knowledge and make "all transport 100 percent accessible, safe, green and reliable – and lead the world on standards, professionalism, and values."
Hailo's app now lets you pay for cabs you've flagged on the street
Hailo reported just last week it was pulling out of North America, where it could no longer effectively compete against its rivals. On this side of the pond, however, Hailo's kicking off its third birthday celebrations with the announcement of more positive news. Firstly, the app-fueled cab-hailing service has just launched in Leeds and Liverpool, meaning it's now available in four UK cities -- Hailo started out in London several years ago, before taking a road trip to Manchester earlier this year. Hailo's Android and iOS app has been updated, too, or rather, completely rebuilt. It doesn't look all that different, but has a slightly cleaner, flatter interface. Debuted in Ireland last month, a new feature called "Pay with Hailo" is now live in London as well. While you've always been able to pay for Hailo-flagged cabs through the app, this new feature lets you do the same with a taxi you've hailed on the street (for a 50p surcharge), assuming that driver is registered with Hailo themselves. Under certain circumstances, iPhone users will also be notified when they can use this method of payment as they jump in a cab.
Sidecar is the first ride-sharing app to officially serve San Francisco airport
One of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón's many complaints about ride-sharing services is that none of them had the permits necessary to take customers to SFO. Sidecar, however, has ticked that box by obtaining official permission to take passengers to and from their flights, albeit with two pretty big caveats. The first is that the permit is for a pilot program that SFO is running to study traffic congestion, so there's no word on how long this license will last for. Second, is that ride-sharing -- enabling several people to share a single car and reduce congestion -- is still not permitted at the airport, thanks to the California Public Utilities Commission. It's an odd piece of logic that Sidecar CEO Sunil Paul is more than happy to point out, and hopes that the CPUC iron out the holes in its thinking sooner rather than later. For the rest of us, we can be comforted in the knowledge that Sidecar will resume airport rides within the next 30 days.
Hailo bows out of North America while its rivals duke it out
When you think of hailing cars from your smartphone, you probably envision Uber's fleet of black cars or Lyft's festive pink mustaches. Competitors like mobile cab-hailing startup Hailo never reached critical mass outside Europe the same way its two biggest rivals did -- that's why it revealed today that it's bailing out of North America entirely. According to the Financial Times, Hailo isn't retreating from the US because it wasn't up for a fight; it's more that the ongoing price war between Uber and Lyft meant there was no real way Hailo could stick around and turn a profit. How quickly things change.
Hailo matches Uber by letting other apps use its cab-hailing features
Uber and Hailo are forever playing catch-up with each other, and this week is no exception. Just hours after Uber announced it's now allowing developers to bake Uber features into their apps, Hailo's following suit by opening up its own platform. Information on ride availability, the time a car will take to get to you and, of course, the ability to hail one are among the first features third-party developers can make use of. Hailo first showed off these capabilities after it teamed up with travel app CityMapper, but is now opening them up to everyone. Given that Hailo only operates in a small number of cities across the US, Europe and Asia, these features will likely be added to just a limited number of apps for now. As Hailo expands its taxi and private car service further afield, however, there's a chance big name hotels, airlines and travel sites could get on board, too.
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 cabs may soon be forced to accept card payments
Part of the reason app-based car services like Uber and Hailo have become so popular is their quick service and no-fuss payments. Hailo, in particular, has bridged the gap for London's black cabs, which have widely shunned card payments due to high setup and running costs. However, things could soon be made a lot easier for city commuters (and tourists) if new plans being considered by Transport for London (TfL) come into force.
What you need to know about Uber, Lyft and other app-based car services
For the first time last month, I requested a car using a smartphone. The app correctly guessed my location using GPS, gave me a ballpark arrival time with a real-time map and even estimated the fare. A polite driver arrived on time and whisked me to my destination. When I tried to pay and tip, he explained that the payment was already taken (I'd receive a receipt by email soon) and that the service (Uber) forbade tipping. Wait, what? No haggling, luggage fee, credit card refusal, time wasted on receipts or even tipping? This was an epiphany! But professional taxi drivers who pay thousands of dollars for a license are understandably not thrilled about these services. Neither are many cities (and regions) that collect those fees and say that Uber/Lyft/etc. are dangerous or improperly insured. The result of this clash, thus far, is chaos: bans, mass demonstrations and even violence. Despite all that, ridesharing poster child Uber was recently valued at $17 billion. So, will app-driven car services gain traction or be run out of town?
Hailo launches in Manchester a month later than Uber
App-based taxi services are the subject of anger and frustration over in London, but Manchester looks set to become the next major battleground for two of the UK's biggest. Hailo, which has served around 12,000 of London's black cabs since 2011, today went live in the north west (its first city outside of the capital), just a month after Uber officially opened its (virtual) doors to customers there. While Hailo's app currently books registered taxis for customers, the company recently announced that it was becoming a fully-featured Uber rival, which saw disgruntled London black cab drivers vandalise the company's headquarters and leave the service in their droves. According to the Manchester Evening News, 300 drivers have already signed up, but the company expects that number to grow rapidly. Nothing like a fresh competitor, it seems, to stop you resting on your laurels.
Uber launches new taxi service to appease London's black cab drivers
As taxi drivers in London and other big European cities prepare to blockade streets in protest of Uber, the private hire service has come up with a compromise. Accused of stealing custom from London's black cab drivers, Uber today added a new tier to its three existing ride options that allows its vocal opponents to offer rides using its mobile tech. It's called UberTAXI and it lets users book and pay for a black cab directly through the Uber app.
Hailo's HQ trashed by Uber-hating London black cab drivers
London's black cabs are in a league of their own, so when Hailo, an app specifically designed for those vehicles, announced that it was becoming a fully-featured Uber rival, things got a little heated. In fact, disgruntled drivers have vandalized the company's headquarters and are now rapidly departing the service. The platform has been losing ground to its less-choosy rivals, and so decided to admit that if it couldn't beat Uber, it would probably have to join it. Unfortunately, the threatened cabbies are also planning a (hopefully non-violent) assault upon Uber next month in the hope of pressuring the government to hold the service to the same rules and standards that commercial taxis use.
Temporary restraining order blocks Uber and others from New York City operations
In a move which should surprise no one who's been following along, New York City livery car groups successfully won a bid yesterday afternoon for a temporary restraining order against New York City's smartphone-based hail pilot program ("e-hails," if you will). This effectively shuts down any (limited) plans UberTAXI and others had for getting back in business in Gotham -- both Uber and Hailo are being stopped from operating in NYC as a result. Under the pilot program -- approved earlier this year but mired in legal drama ever since -- services like Uber and Hailo could be used in NYC's approximately 13K yellow cabs. Livery cab businesses in NYC have sought to stop the program's implementation via legal means. Its latest effort, the "application for interim relief," was admitted via lawyer Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, and cites the following as its reason for the temporary restraining order: "Absent emergency relief, petitioners and the public will suffer irreparable injury to their livelihoods, businesses and industry, fundamental rights and environmental interests, all of which will be impossible to remedy after this case is resolved in petitioner's favor."
NYC taxis may have to wait longer for app hails
Fans of taxi-finder apps like Uber, Hailo and FlyWheel may have to wait a bit longer before they can raise their iThumbs to flag down yellow cabs in the US' busiest urban area. Per the WSJ, a lawsuit by livery cab drivers may block a rule change that would allow app-based hailing in NYC. While iPhone apps to summon a taxi or "black car" ride are popular in other cities, New York's slightly Byzantine rules governing for-hire cars have made it challenging for these apps to make inroads in the Big Apple. The city's iconic yellow cabs can respond to street hails, but for many years have not been allowed to take phone reservations or centralized dispatch. The lawsuit contends that an e-hail is equivalent to dispatching, and that these apps will encroach upon the for-hire car market. The chairman of the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission, former city council member David Yassky, didn't mince words in his statement responding to the legal maneuverings. "This suit seeks to keep the taxi industry and New Yorkers in the dark ages... Next thing, they'll be suing restaurants to go back to wood-burning stoves. Our rules allow for e-hail now, and the only question is, do we embrace these new services and ensure that consumer protections are in place, or listen to obstructionists and watch e-hail apps proliferate without any regulatory input." Back in December, the TLC approved a year-long pilot test of app-based hailing for yellow taxis. The earliest possible start date for that test was February 15, but now it's possible it may take even longer for the service to kick off. An earlier test by Uber had to be canceled due to too few participating cabs and too much demand, not to mention that the TLC hadn't yet figured out how e-hailing was going to work in the city. Meanwhile, livery cabs, car services and corporate cars can indeed be dispatched by phone and by app -- Uber's app already covers most of NYC's business district -- but they aren't allowed to pick up arbitrary passengers on the street (although many flout the rules). On recent trips to Chicago and San Francisco, I was pleasantly surprised by how effective Uber's cab service was, with a ride showing up promptly in almost all cases (one attempt at rush hour in SF's downtown financial district didn't pan out). I would certainly take advantage of an e-hail tool in NYC, assuming the interested parties ever sort out their disputes. [via Transportation Nation and Crain's New York]
