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Half of London's famed black cab taxi fleet are now EVs
Half of London's black cab fleet is now made up of zero-emission vehicles.
Jaguar will supply I-Pace EVs for Norway's new wirelessly-charged taxi service
Jaguar is backing the world's first high-powered wireless taxis.
Uber's carpool service sacrifices convenience for efficiency in NYC (updated)
In the wake of its terrible, horrible, no good, very bad 2017 (yup, and it's only just May), Uber has been doing a lot of work to improve its service. As an extension of the "smart pickup points" trial from London and other cities last year, the ride-hailing company is augmenting the Uber Pool service in Manhattan, enhancing the option's awareness of more direct routes and bus lanes. "After realizing that a short walk could save people both time and money, we knew we were onto something," the outfit writes in a blog post. "Our data was starting to show that we could pick more people up and get riders to their destinations faster."
Uber rival Karhoo back from the dead thanks to Renault
Make no mistake, it's hard going up against Uber. Traditional taxi companies have been forced to evolve or die, while other startups like Hailo have found it difficult to compete the ride-hailing service's incredible growth. Karhoo, a price comparison service for hailing black cabs and the like, also found this out the hard way. Despite raising tens of millions of pounds and enjoying a splashy launch last May, the company quickly burned through its investment and closed in November as it looked "at the next steps for the business." Administrators got involved and employees suddenly found themselves without a job. However, two months later, Karhoo is making a return, thanks to the financial arm of French car giant Renault.
California approves Flywheel's attempt at modernizing taxis
Flywheel's plan to bring taxis into the 21st century just got the all clear. California regulators have approved TaxiOS, the smartphone-based Flywheel platform that lets cabbies ditch their clunky conventional meters in favor of GPS and other modern luxuries. While the company had been limited to trying out its software in just 70 San Francisco cabs, this lets it expand to virtually everywhere in the state. All 200-plus Flywheel-badged San Francisco cabs will be using TaxiOS by February, and it won't be surprising if its other Californian coverage areas (currently Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego) follow suit.
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.
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.
New York City may finally ditch annoying taxi TV screens
Hop into one of New York City's yellow cabs and you'll notice a Taxi TV unit. It's supposed to handle payments and give you a feel for current events, but it's mostly annoying -- especially when you're a frequent passenger watching that talk show sizzle reel for the umpteenth time. Thankfully, relief may be in sight. The city's Taxi and Limousine Commission is near voting on a trial program that would ditch Taxi TV in favor of less obnoxious tech, such as tamper-proofed phones or tablets. Only 4,000 cabs out of 13,500 would be part of the pilot, but the hope is to eventually drop Taxi TV entirely. Suffice it to say that the transition can't come soon enough for a lot of people, including the cabbies themselves. The noise can be tiresome if you're a driver, and there's not much point to the TVs when many customers are too busy with their phones to pay attention. [Image credit: AP Photo/Teru Iwasaki]
Gett tweaks its UK taxi app to help visually-impaired users
Thanks to smartphone apps, hailing a taxi no longer requires memorising the phone number of the local cab company or gesturing at a passing driver in the street. However, none of these options are particularly useful if someone is visually impaired. Gett, the black taxi app formerly known as GetTaxi, agreed more could be done to help its blind or partially-sighted users, so it acted on a suggestion by an Israeli teenager to overhaul its iOS and Android apps.
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.
Use Foursquare to hail your next Uber ride
Since it gave check-ins the boot, the main Foursquare app became a directory of restaurants, coffee shops, retail locations and more. Thanks to a partnership with Button, though, the mobile software is more useful. After you find a new spot for dinner, you'll be able to book a ride with Uber from inside the app. Once you select the option, you're given the choice of car and the wait time for each. If you're not familiar with Button, the company that links apps together, leveraging tools and services to enhance the experience. The new feature is already live in the Foursquare app, so if you fancy it, you can give it try right now.
Uber clashes with London mayor over cap on minicab numbers
While the city's black cab drivers wait for the High Court to decide whether Uber's operation in London is legal, they may soon be given a helping hand by mayor Boris Johnson. The Financial Times reports that the recently-elected MP has backed proposals limit the number of minicabs operating in the capital, effectively blocking Uber's expansion plans. The private taxi company isn't prepared to take it lying down, though, and has already sought to meet with the mayor to discuss the issue. In a letter seen by the newspaper, Uber UK head Jo Bertram argued that action would result in "higher prices" and negatively affect Londoners' ability to move around the capital.
Flywheel wants you to skip the wait for app-friendly taxis
As convenient as ridesharing and app-based taxi services can be, you still have to wait for your lift to show up. Wouldn't it be nice to hop into the first available taxi and then pay through an app? Flywheel is trying just that. Its new Pay by Flywheel service lets you hail a taxi and pay after you're on your way -- the app uses your phone's motion sensors to tell when you're in mid-ride. It's theoretically just as speedy as flagging down a conventional taxi, but saves you the hassle of fumbling with your wallet at the very end. The option is available today in every Flywheel area, including the just-added city of Portland.
Lyft's answer to rideshare safety is befriending your driver
While Uber is doing its best to make sure passengers feel safe with its drivers, Lyft just wants us all to be friends. Next week a new "Lyft profiles" feature is coming to the app that the company hopes will "humanize" the "ride experience," sparking conversations and connecting passengers and drivers in more meaningful ways.
Chicago's getting its own Uber-like app for ordering taxis
It's basically impossible to ignore the impact that the likes of Uber and Lyft have had on the taxicab industry, and Chicago's given up trying. The city government has approved a package from the local cab-drivers union that, among other things, pushes for unified mobile dispatching apps. As proposed, it'd work a lot like the aforementioned ride-sharing services and, compared to apps like Hailo, this would link potential customers to all of the city's 7,000 taxis instead of just a handful here or there. Additionally, the Taxi Driver Fairness Reforms package would make it easier for cabbies to compete financially as well. Lease rates would drop for fuel-efficient vehicles, saving drivers, as the city notes (PDF), between 15 and 25 percent on electric, hybrid or compressed natural gas vehicle payments over three years.
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.
Uber brings its larger-car option to London and Manchester
We haven't heard much out of Uber since it reduced the price of trips across London in its standard vehicles a few months ago. Today, the disruptive taxi service is back on our radar with the announcement of a new fleet of vehicles intended to serve bigger parties, and those who must bring at least five suitcases on their week-long holidays. Through the new uberXL tier (which debuted in San Francisco earlier this year), Londoners can hail a six-seater motor, while Mancunians can expect an eight-seater to turn up, though Uber warns "availability may initially be limited." As you'd expect, they're a little more expensive than standard uberX vehicles at £2.15 per mile, with minimum fares of £7 in London and £5 in Manchester. If you've got seven mates to split the fare with, though, it'll still work out much cheaper than getting two separate cars. Result.
Uber won't gouge you as much during disasters
Folks who have nabbed a ride from Uber during major snowstorms in New York City know all too well about the car service's price gouging during those events. Now, the outfit is capping rates during disasters and "relevant states of emergency" in the US, donating commissions from those surge trips to the American Red Cross. Fares will vary between locales, but prices during a state of emergency will remain under the three highest-priced, non-emergency days of the last two months. If you'll recall, the app-based service calculates rates based on periods of high demand and low driver availability, jacking up pricing to match and ruffling a few feathers in the process. "This policy intends to strike the careful balance between the goal of transportation availability with community expectations of affordability during a disaster," said Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.
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.
