I support the taxis in London, as many a cabbie will tell you. I am well aware of the battles cabbies face. I see how hard my brother studies. I am aware of the sacrifices and don't resent the money you earn. And I agree that the argument about Uber not being metered does not hold up at all. They are clearly metered and it is wrong. The lack of understanding from the public comes because a) Uber is clearly under-priced (at the expense of their drivers) and b) traffic is now so congested in London that taxi fares feel like they've skyrocketed, even though they haven't. So the same journey in a black cab can be two or even three times the price of an Uber X, and despite the lack of qualification an Uber driver may have, you will never convince the vast majority of working people to choose to pay that much more. And anyone who reads the papers can learn of the aggression and immorality that pervades the culture at the top of Uber. BUT IN LA Uber has raised the game dramatically, not lowered it. The standard of yellow cabs here is appalling. There are few of them, they are dirty, cramped, take AGES to arrive and the drivers are often surly. And there is not a culture here of just hailing a cab. You might wait an hour or two to see one, if at all. Uber here is, more often than not, simply great. Polite, efficient, accommodating drivers (incentivised by the rating system), clean cars and usually very competitively-priced. There are moments of exasperation, when a car is ordered, the driver accepts and then inexplicably cancels (or simply cancels because the surge has subsequently started and he knows he can get a better job elsewhere) but I've always found the Customer Services desk helpful, speedy and responsive, and if the driver has erroneously charged me then I always get a refund, without question. From someone who has been coming to LA for years and eventually moved here 4 years ago (though I still pay my taxes in the UK) and cannot drive, Uber has really improved the quality of my life here, I have to say. I know they are far from flawless and I know you don't want to hear that, because to you they are villains, and that is utterly understandable, but the whole picture is more complex. The anger of London cabbies is logical but makes them appear remote and antiquated. The key to me is to focus and promote the differences in service a black cab can offer, and expand on those services. The perception is that you're paying a lot more for the same service. What if every black cab had free water (I'm sure they could get sponsored for that) and mobile phone chargers. What if, every time you got a black cab, you got entered into some kind of lottery, with a draw at the end of every month? What if there was some other kind of incentive, where you could get a 'Taxi Card' and get a 20% discount on your fare (over a certain amount). I'm sure there would be a way of getting subsidies or sponsorship for these initiatives. Whatever, it's taken me 60 seconds to think of those ideas. The Taxi Drivers need to get together and figure something out, because it is not going to get any better otherwise, and as cabbies get angrier, the sympathies of the public will lessen too. I see it happening by the day, when I am in London, and it's sad. But I do think the industry is in denial. First rule of business : adapt or perish. x M

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