Uber Technologies is suspending its UberPop service in France, after a bitter fight with taxi drivers who say the service breaks the law.

The company plans to remove access to UberPop from its mobile app in France from 8 p.m. local time Friday, it said in a blog post.

UberPop allows passengers to hail rides from unlicensed drivers and is similar to the Uber X service offered in the United States and other countries.

Uber has been disrupting transportation markets around the world—nowhere more so than in Paris, where taxi drivers recently blocked highways and airport entrances with burning tires in protest at the company’s behavior. The protests also reportedly included attacks on Uber drivers, their vehicles and passengers. The taxi drivers are angry because, they say, UberPop breaches a new law on hiring vehicles with a driver that entered effect on Jan. 1.

Uber has been carrying on regardless, but now says it will suspend the service and wait for the Constitutional Court to determine the validity of the new law in a ruling expected by Sept. 30. It made the move to calm the debate, it said, and because it did not want its drivers or passengers to take any risks.

The suspension comes despite the acquittal, last month, of an Uber driver charged under the new law following a wave of police checks on vehicles in recent months. The company said the court in Lille found that UberPop did not constitute an illegal taxi service as defined by the law.

On Monday, two senior Uber executives were arrested on suspicion of inciting people to work without paying the necessary social security charges on their income, according to local media reports.

http://www.itworld.com/article/2944315/uber-throws-in-the-towel-in-battle-with-french-taxi-drivers.html#tk.rss_datacenter

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The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has cleared the final legal hurdle to its imposition of Nissan’s NV200 as the city’s predominant yellow cab, ending a journey that began in 2011, when Nissan won the $1 billion contract to supply the vehicles.

A group of taxi owners had challenged the Commission’s authority to mandate the NV200 for use as a NYC taxi. Currently, 47 different models are approved for cab use, and with the demise of the Ford Crown Victoria, no single vehicle has emerged as a favorite.

There is an out, however, an out, as some medallion owners will be able to choose from a list hybrid models (Toyota Prius V and Highland Hybrid, and Lexus RX450h, which seems like a particularly good idea for a city that gave birth to the term “gridlock.” The Nissan NV200 is not available as a hybrid, although Nissan offers an EV version in other markets.

http://blog.caranddriver.com/legal-challenge-reaches-the-end-of-the-road-nissan-nv200-will-be-nycs-taxi/
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London proposes zero-emission capable taxi fleet

Transport for London (TfL) has launched a consultation on the proposed changes to taxi and private hire vehicle licensing ahead of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which will be introduced in central London in 2020.

The consultation contains two key proposals. The first proposal is that, from January 1, 2018, all newly licensed taxis and new Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) must be Zero Emission Capable (ZEC), defined as pure electric or hybrid electric vehicles capable of running in zero emission mode for all or part of the time. The proposals will be supported by a £65m (US$101m) fund to ‘decommission’ the oldest vehicles from the fleet and encourage the take up of new vehicles that will make London’s taxi fleet the cleanest and greenest in the world. TfL is working with a number of manufacturers and is confident that ZEC taxis will be available for sale from 2017, well ahead of the proposed requirement in 2018.

The second proposal is to retain the existing 15 year age limit for all taxis and to encourage retirement of the oldest most polluting taxis through a voluntary decommissioning scheme. From 2017, drivers of taxis over 10 years old would be able to claim up to an additional £5,000 (US$7,800), with the precise amount depending on the age of their vehicle. This is intended to reflect the current challenges facing the trade, while tackling London’s air quality in the most effective and sustainable way‎. With the new proposals, the overall ULEZ package is projected to nearly halve emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) from vehicle exhausts in central London, equating to more than 80% of the area expected to meet the NO2 annual legal limits in 2020. The ULEZ would also lead to significant reduction in the number of people living in areas of poor air quality, where levels of NO2 exceed legal limits, by 72% in the city center and 54% London wide.

Garrett Emmerson, TfL’s chief operating officer for surface transport, said, “The service provided by the taxi and private hire trades is a core ingredient to London’s position as a world-leading city, and we are pleased to consult on this package of changes. The Ultra Low Emission Zone will deliver significant improvements to air quality in the capital and its effects will be felt ahead of 2020. Indeed, we believe the £65m fund will encourage the uptake of cleaner, greener taxis well ahead of the 2020 deadline.” The consultation will run until August 11.

http://www.traffictechnologytoday.com/news.php?NewsID=70749
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