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Oyster card app simplifies top-ups in London
With the growing popularity of contactless payments, the humble Oyster card has a diminished role on the London Underground. Still, it's a useful option for tourists, children, or anyone who wants to keep a close eye on their travel spending. Today, Transport for London (TfL) has launched a mobile app for iOS and Android that makes it easier to top-up and review your balance. Once your account is set up, you can top-up from anywhere — no more queuing at a ticket machine. After 30 minutes, you simply need to touch a reader and the amount will be added on automatically.
Uber will appeal compulsory English exam for London drivers (updated)
Uber continues to fight against an upcoming rule change that would force London drivers to pass an English language exam. Today, the ride-hailing company has won the right to appeal the requirement, originally proposed by Transport for London in March 2016, that all private hire chauffeurs hold an English GCSE or, if they're from a predominantly non-English speaking country, B1-level qualification. Uber broadly supports the rule change, but thinks the written exam component is unfair. "Writing an essay has nothing to do with communicating with passengers or getting them safely from A to B," Tom Elvidge, Uber's General Manager for London said.
The only thing stopping 4G on the Tube is finding someone to deliver it
Londoners' dreams of using their phone on the Tube may soon become a reality after it emerged that Transport for London (TfL) is preparing to invite bids from companies to build a public underground 4G network. According to the Financial Times, the regulator -- with backing from London Mayor Sadiq Khan -- could hold an auction after next week's general election, extending connectivity beyond Virgin Media's station-centric WiFi network.
Uber might have to pay £2 million to operate in London
Transport for London (TfL) is proposing licence fee changes that would foot Uber with a £2 million bill. The regulator opened a consultation today that would change the current two tier-system, "small" and "standard," to a more expensive five-level structure. Right now, private hire operators with two vehicles or less pay £1,488 for a five-year licence, while those with three or more pay £2,826. Under the new system, companies with more than 1,000 vehicles would fall into the highest category and have to choose from one of two payment structures: £33,304 per year, plus £14 per registered vehicle, or £166,518, plus £68 per vehicle for a five-year licence.
Uber loses High Court bid to block English language driver tests
Uber's operations in London have been dealt a fresh blow after the High Court ruled that it, and other private hire companies in the city, must force drivers to pass an English language test. The ride-hailing provider was attempting to overturn strict new rules proposed by Transport for London (TfL) last year that included reading and writing tests for drivers, better customer support and private-hire insurance for period when drivers weren't even working.
Android Pay helps Brits keep track of their Tube spending
It might have been late to the party, but Google is determined to make Android Pay the de facto payment solution for non-iPhone users in the UK. An update going out "this week" will add some deeper integrations with Transport for London (TfL), including incomplete journey notifications -- so you'll know when you forgot to tap out -- and daily travel summaries, complete with station names and bus numbers. Together, they should help you track your spending habits and spot when something strange has occurred, warranting further investigation and possibly a refund from TfL.
TfL thinks tracking passenger phones will improve the Tube
The London Underground welcomes 1.34 billion passengers each year, many of whom have their own unique routes of travel. Transport for London wants to know more about these movements to improve the safety, reliability and management of the Tube network, so it's conducting a four-week trial that will track people as they move between stations using their mobile phone.
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.
London's Uber drivers must now pass an English exam
After many months of proposals and legal challenges, Transport for London (TfL) has finally imposed a new rule requiring private hire drivers, including those from Uber, to meet an English-language requirement before they can hit the city's streets. On October 14th, the authority confirmed that any driver seeking to renew or apply for their private hire licence will need to hold an English qualification. If they don't, they'll need to pass a two-hour £200 exam to earn one.
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.
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.
TfL slides into your Twitter DMs with weekend travel updates
In an extension to its partnership with Twitter, Transport for London (TfL) has announced a new pilot that will send a direct message every Thursday that will warn of weekend closures and maintenance on the city's travel routes.
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.
