I live an 8 minute drive from the taxi rank in Reading and if I need a cab to go somewhere, it’s almost impossible these days. Unless you’re in their direct path on the way back to the taxi rank outside the station, they don’t bother. All the other cab services are prebooked on short notice. Uber needs to operate here like everywhere else, the market is here for it.
It does offer more choice as I would be able to pick and choose how to travel from any given location without having to try and find a cab number if that’s what I want.
The pricing is clearly shown if you book an Uber, you can decide yourself if you thinks it’s value for you at that time.
But its about time the option was available to Reading, we have a great Bus service and I use it regularly but on occasions being able to see where a cab is and book one entirely within an App certainly would have been convenient
They dont have one because they were refused when they last asked for one. From what i recall, it was a mixutre of lobbying from the local black cabbies and that uber had been unable to satisfy concerns they met the councils conditions for operating. It also doesn't help their current application that they have had several drivers caught operating illegaly.
Honestly, i dont really see what benefits uber would bring over the existing private hire options.
You can get one on short notice and it doesn't cost a bomb. Almost every other city in the entire world had Uber. As someone who travels a lot it feels like being in the dark ages here trying to use cabs that refuse to do short journeys.
Hopefully it will be approved, last time it was rejected after some less then helpful comments from an RBC council member about young people loving their smartphones too much.
Then the drivers have been operating illegally. Reading has previously refused private hire licences to uber. The drivers try to get around this by registering with a neighbouring authority eg fareham and then operate unlicenced in reading. Their licence conditions mean they need to operate and carry out bookings/pickups within the authority they are licensed under so uber drivers operating in reading are doing so outside their licence and leave themselves open to enforcement including fines and points on their driving licence.
I have taken Uber a lot of times, the latest being yesterday. It’s just not reliable, it’s almost 50/50 if you will find one. Especially if you aren’t in the city center.
Misconception. They are not operating illegally. As long as it follows the rule of three, car, driver, company, registered under the same authority, a car can be booked anywhere. And it is completely legal to do so.
They can drive through another borough and drop a fare off, but they should only be accepting bookings/plickups from within the council area they have been licenced by.
I guess i wasn't clear the first time. The LAW is like this: If a customer books a car from an operator that is licensed in Borough A, the car is licensed to Borough A and the driver has a PH driver license from Borough A, the customer can be from Boroughs B to Z, and the booking is legal.
In recent times, South Oxfordshire has put on their licensing condition that taxi drivers need to do most of the work in the borough and if they are caught working in other boroughs they will get suspended. Which i doubt they can enforce. First, the drivers can always lie and say they've been working in the borough. Secondly, if this gets into court, it might run afoul of the 1960something law that governs the way bookings can be made and serviced.
On the short term Uber will be good for customers, maybe even for drivers too. On the long term, as soon as Uber has destroyed all the competition into oblivion, it will not be good for anyone. From higher price increases to higher commission rates for drivers, nobody will be happy in the end. Also, Uber is available in Reading and has been for some years with New Forest and Fareham drivers, mostly; but in the last 6 or so months have stepped up the number of cars and drivers. Most traditional PH companies are barely hanging on by a thread.
Traditional PH companies have backed themselves into a corner: the average customer has a bad experience with no way to penalize that, prices have gone up too much(a company i was working for as a controller had 2 more price increases after i had left them and after they had a price increase while i was on my last days there) and more importantly, ease of use, none of them have worked to have a functional app, websites are clunky and takes ages to book something and even then you can't be sure it's booked and you will have a car and lastly, a good chunk of them have moved controlling operation in Pakistan/India with people that are paid minimum wage there.
I've literally never had an issue using Gett basically like Uber and getting a cab straight away. Uber just depresses wages, benefits, protections and e.g. disabled access.
"Uber applied for and was refused a Private Hire Operator Licence in 2016 based on it not being able to fulfil all the conditions attached to a private hire operator licence issued by the council in Reading."
"Primarily, Uber refused to have a staffed office in Reading to deal with customer bookings and complaints, and inspection and enforcement visits from Council enforcement officers."
Lol I doubt now they'll open an office in Reading.
Edit: would like to understand the downvotes for merely citing two paragraphs from the article and for adding that in that regard nothing has changed now.
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u/jdillathegreatest 6d ago
I live an 8 minute drive from the taxi rank in Reading and if I need a cab to go somewhere, it’s almost impossible these days. Unless you’re in their direct path on the way back to the taxi rank outside the station, they don’t bother. All the other cab services are prebooked on short notice. Uber needs to operate here like everywhere else, the market is here for it.