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Uber granted court review of TfL's English language test
Uber is trying everything to overturn stringent new rules proposed by Transport for London (TfL). Last year, the organisation took a long hard look at the capital's ride-hailing market, and concluded that a few crucial changes were needed. These included a new English language test for all Uber drivers, improved customer support and better vehicle insurance. Uber supported these proposals at first, but quickly changed its tune once the fine print was revealed. In short, the company thinks the new requirements go too far, and will affect its ability to recruit drivers.
Uber takes legal action against TfL over new taxi rules
It's safe to say that Uber isn't particularly happy with the changes to London's private hire regulations. The Transport for London (TfL) board approved new measures earlier this year, but only recently did the authority publish the finer details, which paint them as more stringent than first thought. Last week, Uber kicked up a fuss over what it deemed to be a threat to "the livelihood of thousands of drivers," also asking users to lobby London's Mayor to revisit the new regulations. This conflict has taken a much more serious turn today, however, with Uber launching formal legal action against the transport authority.
Uber takes the fight to TfL over new English exam for drivers
Considering the proposals Transport for London (TfL) originally put forward as it looked to update private hire regulations in the capital, Uber escaped relatively unscathed when the authority ended up approving only minor amendments to the rulebook. One of these was a formal English language requirement, but with TfL having detailed exactly what that means since, Uber has a new bone to pick. Starting October 1st, any driver originating from a primarily non-English-speaking country will have to pass a written exam in order to apply for or renew a private hire licence.
London buses to show live traffic updates in rear windows
Over time, transport authorities have improved how they share important road travel news. Roadside signs can give a driver an important heads-up during journeys and apps can notify travellers before they've even left the house. As part of a new trial, Transport for London (TfL) wants to reduce the temptation for motorists to look at their phones while on the move by displaying live traffic information on the back of London's buses.
Twitter and TfL team up for instant Tube disruption alerts
From today, London's Tube and train passengers can get travel alerts sent to their phone, thanks to a partnership between Transport for London (TfL) and Twitter. In what's being described as a "world first" by the travel authority, the new service will notify travellers via a direct message if there are severe delays on their chosen line.
Uber gets off lightly as TfL approves minor rule changes
Last year, Transport for London (TfL) looked at Uber and the broader private hire industry to see if they should be subject to tougher regulations. The results of that investigation were reported in January, with few consequences for Uber, and now those findings have been formally approved by TfL's board. For the time being, that means it's business as usual for Travis Kalanick's company in the capital.
O2 tracks and sells what customers are doing on the Tube
If you're with O2 and regularly use the London Underground, you should know that the network is trying to track your phone and pass that information on to advertisers. If that sounds like a huge invasion of privacy, well, in some ways it is -- however, the silver lining is that all of the data is anonymised and aggregated before it's visible to any marketing folk. O2's owner Telefonica struck the deal with Exterion Media last summer, the latter of which owns every billboard on the subterranean transport system. It then came into effect on Thursday, monitoring customers' journeys, app usage and browsing activity over Wi-Fi.
Twitter's out-of-order timeline prompts TfL to narrow travel updates (updated)
Transport for London (TfL) runs a whole host of Twitter accounts designed to keep commuters up to date with travel disruptions. The organisation is now changing its approach, however, and reducing its overall tweet output for minor delays and incidents. Why? Well, because of "various changes" that Twitter has made to users' timelines. The organisation doesn't blame any specific features, mentioning instead how "selected content on Twitter is (now) shown out of sequence." In response, certain accounts will soon be tweaked. The handles for the Underground lines, for instance (@bakerlooline, @circleline, etc.) will switch from real-time service updates to focused news and alerts for major disruptions.
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.
Uber's safe after TfL softens new private hire regulations
In a bid to clear up controversy surrounding Uber's operations in London, the city's transport authority, Transport for London (TfL), opened a public consultation to drastically overhaul private hire regulations. A cap on the number of unregistered vehicles in the capital was mooted, as was a Knowledge-like test that would ensure private hire drivers have a better understanding of London's backstreets. Those proposals, and many others, were soon shot down by the government's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and more than 200,000 Uber supporters signed a petition rallying against the changes. It appears those voices were recognised, because Transport for London has finally published its review and concluded that Uber can largely operate as it always has done.
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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.
UK watchdog singlehandedly dismantles TfL's Uber sanctions
Uber's impact on the London taxi trade has been huge. The exponential growth of the ride-hailing service has caused anger and criticism among more traditional operators, particularly black cabbies, who argue lax regulations have allowed Uber to flourish unchecked. After a long-fought legal challenge, London's High Court recently ruled that the way Uber calculates fares is legal, and is not equivalent to taximeters reserved for black cabs exclusively. No sooner had that bullet been dodged than Transport for London (TfL) let another fly in the form of proposals to significantly overhaul private hire regulations, under the guise of improving passenger safety.
Londoners will soon be able to share an Uber with strangers
If you're willing to share an Uber with a stranger, travelling across London could soon be a little bit cheaper. The company is launching UberPool this Friday (December 4th) at 4pm, starting with a small patch in the centre of the city -- it stretches between Highbury in the North, Wapping in the East, Brixton in the South and Shepherd's Bush in the West. Sharing a ride will, the company claims, make your fare 25 percent cheaper than if you had travelled with UberX, the company's next best option. You simply open the app, choose the UberPool icon and your destination; it'll then ask how many seats you need (for now, two is the limit) and give a final fare. If you're the driver's second stop, Uber will tell you the name of your fellow traveller immediately, otherwise you'll get a notification mid-journey.
London plans to regulate Uber with driver tests and pick-up delays
Over the past year, London's Mayor and transport authority have held discussions over how best to regulate private hire taxi services like Uber, much to the delight of the city's black cab drivers. Boris Johnson suggested capping the number of unregistered vehicles allowed to operate, and also raised the idea of a Knowledge-like test to ensure Uber drivers had a better understanding of the capital's backstreets. Now, it appears, some of those suggestions could be implemented by Transport for London (TfL).
London Tube's 'regenerative braking' tech can power an entire station
To make the London Underground greener and more cost effective, Transport for London (TfL) has been trialling a new system that collects and recycles waste energy from train brakes. Over the course of a week, the company says it's been able to capture electricity at a rate of 1 Megawatt hour per day -- enough to slash 5 per cent off its energy bill. The salvaged energy could also be used to run a station as large as Holborn for at least two days every week, TfL claims. The "state-of-the-art regenerative breaking system" is dependent on a new "inverter" set up at a substation near Cloudesely Road, where TfL manages the power sent to the Victoria Line. The "world-first" setup also reduces the amount of heat that's normally produced by the train's brakes. Recovering power could, therefore, keep London's Tube cooler and reduce TfL's operating costs, leading to cheaper fares. The "inverter" is now in operation full-time, but only on the Victoria line -- all the same, it's good to see TfL exploring new ways to modernise its iconic transport network.
London's Boris bikes kitted out with lasers in the name of safety
If there's one universal truth, it's that everything is better with lasers: sharks, dinosaurs, Facebook, and now... Boris bikes. Under a new safety trial, Transport for London has fitted 250 of the capital's pushbikes-for-hire with a laser-projection system that beams the familiar stickman bicycle logo onto the ground ahead of the cyclist. With a six metre lead on the rider, the projection is intended to alert motorists to the close presence of the cyclist, who could be cruising in the driver's blind spot at the time. In early tests, the laser projection was said to improve the nighttime visibility of bikers when compared with the regular LED headlamps currently in use. The tech itself is being provided by UK upstart Blaze, which already sells the Laserlight as a handlebar add-on for any bicycle. Should the 10-or-so week trial be deemed successful, the plan is to retrofit all 11,500 Boris bikes with the dynamo-driven projection system.
Live Rugby World Cup scores are coming to London's Tube
With the Rugby World Cup kicking off this week, Transport for London (TfL) is gearing up to play a big role in helping sports fans navigate to and from the city's three host stadia. However, that's not all it will do come Friday. The transport authority today announced it has teamed up with ITV to deliver live news, scores and results from the tournament across 180 Tube and DLR stations right through until the final on October 31st. It'll be the second time the London Underground has hosted a World Cup, after it delivered goals and updates via information boards during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The deal will generate revenue for TfL, helping it to invest more in its modernisation of the Tube network, which will include the development and rollout of new driverless trains with built-in WiFi in 2022.
London kicks off free bus WiFi trial on two routes
It's safe to say Transport for London (TfL) is pushing hard to equip London's bus and train networks with their fair share of tech. Not long after it announced the launch date for contactless payments on the Tube, it's just confirmed that two of the city's Routemasters are now offering free WiFi to passengers. As of today, if you find yourself travelling on a specific route 12 bus, which operates between Dulwich and Oxford Circus, or a route RV1 bus journeying between Covent Garden and Tower Hill, you'll be able to get online without eating into your data allowance.
London's Tube to accept contactless payments from September 16th
The contactless payment feature on your bank card is ideal for speeding up minor purchases, and soon it'll be able to replace your Oyster, too. London buses have supported contactless payments for some time, and Transport for London (TfL) has today announced that come September 16th, they'll get you through the barriers at Tube, Overground and DLR stations as well. The benefit of using your bank card is you never have to top it up, and in addition to the daily cap on travel charges already in place, any method of contactless payment will also be subject to a new weekly cap (Monday to Sunday), whereby TfL figures out the cheapest possible fare for that period. You'll be able to keep track of your journey and payment history via an online account, much like you can with a registered Oyster card now. Implementing contactless payments across the wider London transport network comes after a pilot that's been running since April, but TfL are still looking for new lab rats to test the system before its formal launch.
