Uber, the take-no-prisoners giant of the underground cab industry, is kicking the tires in London to the dismay of city officials and traditional taxi companies.

While the global car-sharing colossus has set no date to launch service in London, it recently held information and recruiting meetings at a London hotel.

The information sessions played to “very strong interest,” Uber Canada spokesperson Susie Heath wrote.

“We know that residents across Canada have been opening the Uber app and asking us to come to their hometown. This is a part of our process to explore expansion in a number of cities across Canada,” Heath, who formerly worked for Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa, said in an e-mail.

Many customers swear by the company’s easy-access, cut-rate rides, which one London official compares to hi-tech hitchhiking.

But not everyone is uber-excited.

Protests and petitions have dogged the company in many markets around the world, including in Canada where Edmonton and Toronto have gone to court trying to shut down the app-based company that allows anyone with a car and a clean driving record to charge people for rides.

Uber, on its website, says it’s committed to “the safest ride on the road,” with the company “setting the strictest safety standards possible” and aiming “to go above and beyond local requirements.”

But London bylaw boss Orest Katolyk is already drawing a hard line, not waiting for a meter to start. While Uber says it’s not a cab service, Katolyk says its drivers would be required to get a regular taxi licence and obey the city taxi bylaw, which regulates fares and the age and mechanical safety of taxis.

The bylaw also requires criminal checks on drivers.

Canada’s taxi industry is highly regulated, controlled by civic authorities who limit how many plates are issued and how much drivers can charge. If plates trade hands, it’s often at huge cost on the open market.

Katolyk said he’s skeptical of Uber’s safety, saying it uses unregulated drivers and vehicles.

Similar concerns have been raised elsewhere, including in Edmonton where taxi drivers filled its city council chambers, worried Uber would both harm their industry and put passengers at risk of drivers without proper training or insurance.

“We refer to it as modern-day hitchhiking,” Katolyk said. “In the ’70s, you stuck your thumb out. Now you hit an app on your smartphone.”

London — a city with four regular cab companies — would be joining other cities in fighting back.

Toronto has gone to court seeking an injunction to shut down Uber, arguing it poses a public safety threat.

Edmonton also has filed an injunction to cease Uber operations, and a suit against Uber for operating without a licence. Uber drivers there have been fined up to $1,400 for operating without a proper licence. In Ottawa, city officials have charged at least a dozen Uber drivers with violating its taxi bylaws.

London has a quality, regulated taxi industry, said Hasan Savehilaghi, president of Yellow London Taxi, the city’s largest taxi ­company.

“Having a big corporation, with big money behind them, putting vehicles on the road without regard for city regulations, is offensive to everybody,” he said.

It might be difficult to stop Uber from entering the London market, said Michael Elfman, general manager of Checker Limousines. Still, he said, he doubts the service would succeed in a smaller city like London.

“Londoners care about whose vehicles they or their children are getting into,” he said.

Uber says it’s not a cab company, but a technology company that produces apps that enable ride-sharing and reduce the number of vehicles on the road. It doesn’t own the vehicles and drivers aren’t employees but “partners,” with the company taking a percentage of their earnings.

Uber has grown quickly by offering cut-rate fares, said Anabel Quan-Haase, an associate professor of sociology and media studies at Western University.

In Edmonton, for a limited time, it even offered free rides.

“Some people are willing to lower their expectations of safety . . . for a reduced price, but not all consumers are willing to do that,” said Quan-Haase said.

She said Uber cleverly has tapped into the latest smartphone technology, allowing customers to track vehicles in real time to find a ride quickly.

“There is clearly an openness for alternative models. Uber uses real-time data to make transportation more targeted and efficient.”

But Savehilaghi and Elfman say their companies have already caught up, launching new apps that duplicate all the benefits of Uber’s technology.

With files by QMI Agency

--- --- ---

ABOUT UBER

Began in San Francisco in 2009.

Operates in 230 cities worldwide, seven in Canada.

Considers itself a technology company.

Produces apps that enable ride-sharing.

Does not own the vehicles; drivers are “partners.”

---- --- ---

ABOUT LONDON’S TAXI INDUSTRY