And remember all that stress of making sure you had enough money left for a cab at the end of the night? Then getting stuck somewhere weird because you didn’t? Or the minicab getting completely lost? Or charging you 2X what you agreed? Or having the back seat covered in vomit? Oh the fun of pre-Uber cabs.

Oh and the stress of watching the meter tick up and up past how much money you have and then having to do a detour to a cash point costing you even more money and the driver getting really mad at you because they think you’re doing a runner?

Well, they did not want to accept cards because cards cost them and leave a trail. It was a case of them wanting their cake and eating it too.

Uber and friends effectively forced them (or local authorities) to accept cards.

Where I live the council and taxis have been endlessly moaning about Uber but a couple of years ago they made accepting card payments mandatory for black cabs... Cause and effect.

Black cab drivers are the buggy drivers... moaning about the progress and comfort, while trying to force the government to give them the monopoly on a service.

&%^k them

You’re not rich, you can’t afford a private car that can pay for a a massively overgrown company and a drivers livelihood.

There’s a reason the cost is so high for cabs in London. Great public transportation and high col. if you’re complaining about the cost of a cab ride , remember the cost would be the same if Uber marketing wasn’t subsidizing your rides.

Liveable wages might be one part of it, but blackcabs also charge more due to restricted supply caused by a 3-4 year qualification requirement that is almost completely obsolete in the age of GPS navigation.

Government enforced monopoly typically results in this kind of crap.

The cost of an Uber ride is roughly the same as for a minicab. So.... I'm guessing that they don't subsidise much.

Black cabs is a different story.

Or business expenses. Black cabs still tend to get you to your destination faster than Uber. They're faster to hail (at least in busy areas), can often use bus lanes and have more knowledge of the city. Their pricing is insane but I've never had an Uber that could beat a black cab.

> can often use bus lanes

Indeed, that should be banned right off, but as you astutely point out, rich people want to get around faster than the rest of us.

Why? Its not like bus lanes are exactly overflowing with traffic would you ban cyclists from bus lanes as well.

You could let teslas in bus lanes and they wouldn't be overflowing with traffic, that's hardly the point. Bus lanes should be for vehicles that add very little to congestion, either because of the number of people transported (as in the case of a bus), or because of the size of the vehicle (bikes, motorbikes, e-scooters).

Black cabs (and ubers) have an effective occupancy even lower than private cars.

A lot of cab and uber use in London is groups not just singletons - its cheaper for 3 or 4 people to use a back cab or uber for short journeys than use the tube

So allow high occupancy vehicles (say at least 3 passengers, 4 for taxis) in bus lanes.