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[raywilb]

 I spent a night in Leeds & was amazed at the amount of Uber cabs were working. I then saw a programme where Uber are experimenting with electric powered aircraft ( just look like a drone type of craft ) that they intend to use for short affordable urban trips. How can taxi firms compete with that

[STEMO]

Yep. 60 mile range on a charge for the 'aircraft'. I think that will go up in time. IIRC, the batteries just slide into the bottom of the fuselage, and they can be changed for a fully charged set in minutes.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

You wouldn't get me in one for all the tea in China. I don't like any type of flying machine, but a battery powered  pilotless drone ? Fack dat. 

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Will it 'glide'  if charge is less than expected or simply drop out of the sky?

[aaronjb]

Will it 'glide'  if charge is less than expected or simply drop out of the sky?

If it's got wings it'll have a glide angle..

..I mean, no guarantee it's a low one and it might be a fatal one, but technically it'll glide

[STEMO]

You wouldn't get me in one for all the tea in China. I don't like any type of flying machine, but a battery powered  pilotless drone ? Fack dat. 

It has a pilot, just as their cabs have a driver.

[JDX]

I wonder of their pilots are licensed unlike their drivers? 

[Doctor Gollum]

I wonder of their pilots are licensed unlike their drivers? 

Technically their drivers ARE licensed...

Trouble is, nobody knows where

[zirk]

Im still waiting for the likes of Ryanair to jump on this Mini Cab Taxi malarkey.

I reckon it will go something like this -

Put Luggage in Boot, 1st Bag (small) Free, 2nd and subsequent Bags £4 each.
Seat Belt unlock mech £1
Choice of Seat, Front Free, Back £2 per Seat.
Sit in Front and talk to Driver £2, sit in Front and request Driver not to talk £6
Request Sunroof Closesure Front Seat £2, Back Seats £6
Radio Station Change Request £2, Asian CD Change Request £4
Request a Fare Receipt £3
Tip for the Driver £3, no tipping the Driver £5
Change of Route, Traffic Jam etc, £8
Etc, Etc.....

[Doctor Gollum]

Im still waiting for the likes of Ryanair to jump on this Mini Cab Taxi malarkey.

I reckon it will go something like this -

Put Luggage in Boot, 1st Bag (small) Free, 2nd and subsequent Bags £4 each.
Seat Belt unlock mech £1
Choice of Seat, Front Free, Back £2 per Seat.
Sit in Front and talk to Driver £2, sit in Front and request Driver not to talk £6
Request Sunroof Closesure Front Seat £2, Back Seats £6
Radio Station Change Request £2, Asian CD Change Request £4
Request a Fare Receipt £3
Tip for the Driver £3, no tipping the Driver £5
Change of Route, Traffic Jam etc, £8
Etc, Etc.....

Nah, that will never happen... taxis are far too highly regulated for that Lady bits Oleary to be interested

[omegod]

Uber Liverpool head office is behind my workplace, there's a fresh stream of drivers turning up daily who look to have just landed. I don't know how it would work but normally a private hire driver would need a CRB check but how would you reliably check someone who's just arrived in country ??   

[Doctor Gollum]

You can't and they won't be that fresh...

The councils that abide Uber regulate them the same as any other driver. When I was taxi driving, I had my own operators licence and car but wasn't able to sign on with Uber as I neither were London PCO registered... Phone numbers can be mobile, but address must physically be in Greater London for that to happen... Which wasn't going to happen

Driver vetting is pretty much standardised now: Medical, DSA advanced test, CRB check and some sort of test of understanding of private hire licencing conditions. Uber in the UK should be no different to any other firm operating...

[raywilb]

You can't and they won't be that fresh...

The councils that abide Uber regulate them the same as any other driver. When I was taxi driving, I had my own operators licence and car but wasn't able to sign on with Uber as I neither were London PCO registered... Phone numbers can be mobile, but address must physically be in Greater London for that to happen... Which wasn't going to happen

Driver vetting is pretty much standardised now: Medical, DSA advanced test, CRB check and some sort of test of understanding of private hire licencing conditions. Uber in the UK should be no different to any other firm operating...

  the drivers in & around York, Leeds, Bradford & even further afield do flit from town to town. I have often wondered how they are allowed to. if I wanted to start taxiing in York I would need to pass a rigorous knowledge test.

[TD]

You can't and they won't be that fresh...

The councils that abide Uber regulate them the same as any other driver. When I was taxi driving, I had my own operators licence and car but wasn't able to sign on with Uber as I neither were London PCO registered... Phone numbers can be mobile, but address must physically be in Greater London for that to happen... Which wasn't going to happen

Driver vetting is pretty much standardised now: Medical, DSA advanced test, CRB check and some sort of test of understanding of private hire licencing conditions. Uber in the UK should be no different to any other firm operating...

  the drivers in & around York, Leeds, Bradford & even further afield do flit from town to town. I have often wondered how they are allowed to. if I wanted to start taxiing in York I would need to pass a rigorous knowledge test.

There is a little loophole in the law, that they maybe using.....and that is..

If you have a vehicle and personal license as a hackney driver......you can legally work for any private hire firm in the country.

However it could be also that local authority licensing them as hackney drivers covers different towns, so this would also be possible.

What is not allowed by private hire firms is that a customer phones say a private hire in one town/city and that company then passes the work onto a firm in a different licensing authority area....

Regarding knowledge tests....I never had to take one, as I had my private hire license before they were introduced into Swindon.....but in Swindon they are a bit of a joke tbh. Iirc hackey driver get asked more questions than private hire drivers....the reasoning behind this according to the council, is that the private hire drivers can look up their destination before picking up their customer....So...my company uses a system called IVR....the customer never speaks to anyone and just orders a cab from their location by pressing buttons on their phone, whether its from mobile or landline....on my screen the destination comes up as "as directed" . Also my company uses a phone app, if the customer carnt be arrised to input the destination, again on my screen, it says "as directed" ..... so not much different to hackney drivers really 

Regarding Uber....Uber have blanket applied for operators licenses in just about every licensing authority in the UK....and got them...whether thy use them or not is upto Uber....

And theres no way private hire drivers can switch between different licensing authorities unless they actually move to different authority area......unless they fraudulently apply for their license ...

[Rods2]

Will it 'glide'  if charge is less than expected or simply drop out of the sky?

Gliding will be just fine as long as you put your head between your buttocks and kiss your butt goodbye and all will also be fine to the end of the controlled crash glide














maybe.