I should be fascinated to hear of anyone who had ever had any difficulty hailing a black cab in London. So the only appeal of Uber must have been the things that anyone could see were the results of worker exploitation and general corner-cutting.
Over to the unions and the councils to set up their own. It's an app. It's not hard to do.
This could all be built into the existing black cab trade. With Uber out of the way, then the black cabs would not be undercut if they adopted the technology. All overseen by the councils and the unions.
It could be integrated with Oyster and everything. Everyone would love it. They would rapidly wonder how they ever did without it.
The Knowledge is no more a "restrictive practice" than a medical or a legal qualification is. The same was true of many working-class protections that have been lost. Let this be the first day of their restoration. No satnav in the world could ever match The Knowledge, or that latter would no longer exist, still less would it command such healthy remuneration.
This is a moment to be seized. As of today, the technology effectively belongs only to the people without the compliance and enforcement problems. Seize this moment.
Over to the unions and the councils to set up their own. It's an app. It's not hard to do.
This could all be built into the existing black cab trade. With Uber out of the way, then the black cabs would not be undercut if they adopted the technology. All overseen by the councils and the unions.
It could be integrated with Oyster and everything. Everyone would love it. They would rapidly wonder how they ever did without it.
The Knowledge is no more a "restrictive practice" than a medical or a legal qualification is. The same was true of many working-class protections that have been lost. Let this be the first day of their restoration. No satnav in the world could ever match The Knowledge, or that latter would no longer exist, still less would it command such healthy remuneration.
This is a moment to be seized. As of today, the technology effectively belongs only to the people without the compliance and enforcement problems. Seize this moment.
What will happen to London the first day GPS goes down either because of a solar storm or a North Korean EMP weapon? Taxis and buses will continue to function. Uber not at all. Black cab drivers are actually a strategic resource - their knowledge could mitigate a major disaster. There is no way we should ever allow near-psychopathic silicon valley companies to dictate how we do things.
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