Uber France announced on Wednesday that it wants to open its app-based reservation platform up to taxi drivers.

The move comes one week after France’s Constitutional Court ruled that taxi drivers also have the right to work as minicabs, known in France as Véhicules de Tourisme Avec Chauffeur (VTC).

“Given the situation, what we want is to open Uber up to taxis,” Thibaud Simphal, director-general of Uber France, said at a conference in Paris. “We encourage all other existing platforms, not just Uber, but our competition Chauffeur-Privé, SnapCar, etc. to do the same.”

Simphal said that by opening up Uber’s platform, taxi drivers would be allowed to accept reservations “on a VTC platform, as a VTC driver, using a car that is not a taxi”.

“They can do it, last week’s decision confirms it, the government is going in this direction and we would like to do something concrete with this opportunity,” he added.

Uber has had a tumultuous year in France, coming up against a number of legal obstacles. In December, an appeals court fined the California-based company €150,000 for “misleading commercial practices” over its now defunct low-cost service UberPop, which allowed unlicensed drivers to work as cabbies using their own cars.

In its decision, the court said that Uber had misrepresented UberPop by claiming it was a ride-sharing service when it was first launched in 2014.

Although Uberpop was officially banned in France in January 2015, the company continued to run the low-cost service for several months, sparking a series of violent protests by taxi unions in June.

Uber finally shut it down in July 2015 after Simphal and another executive were arrested and charged with "misleading commercial practices (and) complicity in the illegal exercise of the taxi profession”. The pair are expected to go on trial in mid-February.

One of the world’s most valuable startups, Uber is worth an estimated $50 billion and operates in more than 50 countries.

http://www.france24.com/en/20160120-france-uber-wants-open-reservation-platform-taxi-drivers

------------------------------------------------------------------------

YORK CITY Council have advised people to be vigilant after a string of reports of drivers falsely claiming they work for a taxi firm that has a contract with the University and York St John.

A council statement confirmed the bogus cabs “have been seen on student nights,” and drivers are specifically approaching “young women”.

University Registrar David Duncan told York Vision: “In the light of this statement, all students are urged to take extra care with their travel arrangements.”

Duncan said students “should use reputable taxi firms which display recognised company logos, or better still, book taxis via recognised booking services.”

He encouraged students to download SafeZone, an app that allows for security services and the police to be called quickly.

He also added: “The University has preferred rates with 659 Taxis (dial 01904 659659), which all staff and students are entitled to make use of.”

Councillor David Carr said: “If you are approached by or believe an unlicensed vehicle is operating please don’t get in it.”

He encouraged concerned students to notify North Yorkshire Police or the council “as soon as possible” if they suspected they were being targeted.

Police are interested to know the registration number, make, model and colour of any suspect vehicle; as well as the sex, age, hair colour, ethnicity and build of the driver.

“Unlicensed vehicles are not insured to carry passengers, they may not be roadworthy and drivers may not have passed a ‘fit and proper’ person test,” Carr added.

All licensed drivers should have a photo ID badge issued by the council, which will list their name, their license number and an expiry date.

A private hire vehicle will have ‘Private Hire Vehicle, Pre Booked Only’ plates on its rear doors, and a maroon ‘City of York Private Hire’ license plate on the front and rear, listing its license number and how many people it can carry.

A Hackney Carriage will have a ‘Taxi’ roof light, the York crest on the front doors, a meter inside, and a yellow ‘City of York Hackney Carriage’ rear plate, also listing its license number and the number of people it can carry.

Students with information or concerns about these taxis have been told to contact the council on 01904 551438, or North Yorkshire Police on 101.

http://goo.gl/3yRyBO
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SOUTHAMPTON

Surely the time has come to modernise our old-fashioned, restrictive, monopolistic, unsatisfactory taxi and private hire industry.

Anyone should be entitled in a free competitive market to offer a taxi service, summoned by phone or on the street.

However, he would need to be a “fit and proper person”, speak English and pass a training course.

The vehicle would need to be in excellent condition, meet minimum standards, checked annually and subject, at any time, to inspection by the police and local authority.

The vehicle would need to be fitted with GPS or satnav, a black box recording all journeys, a sound recording device, a camera device and safety buttons for the protection of both passenger and driver.

The vehicle in service would have to carry suitable visible marks, such as a prominent sign or plate.

Naturally fully comprehensive public liability insurance would be required.

Being part of public transport, the taxi fares should be regulated, displayed on a meter, with a meter receipt giving full details issued to the passenger at the end of every journey. The parties could always agree a fare less than the meter.

Bus lanes should be open to the taxis, unless for good reason the local authority prohibited the use.

Taxi ranks on the highway should be provided according to need, and it may be necessary to regulate their use, on a non-discriminating and fair basis.

Taxis waiting for a phone call from potential customers would need to wait at suitable places; but in order to avoid congestion and unwelcome parking the local authority might need to regulate the roads, e.g. waiting by taxis prohibited in certain specified roads between certain specified times.

Similarly cruising for trade might have to be controlled in certain roads.

A modern system would mean a better service available for the public, more opportunities for employment for taxi drivers, fewer private cars, less congestion, an improved economy. Win-win.

http://goo.gl/1MTZZz

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The Hungarian government says it supports taxi drivers in their protest against ride-hailing apps like Uber.
Officials said Wednesday they would initiate talks with drivers to draft legislation aimed at unifying regulations for taxis and other passenger services, like Uber.
Uber said in a statement that it welcomed the government's position about the need for "a new, modern regulatory framework" and also welcomed the opportunity to participate in the talks.


State Secretary Bence Tuzson, however, told Hungarian state news wire MTI that Uber would not be invited to the talks and that it could be banned if it did not respect the laws.
Since Monday, dozens of taxi drivers have been blocking off several lanes of a key intersection in downtown Budapest demanding that authorities ban Uber.

http://goo.gl/sKdLI8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

LONDON HIGH COURT, LONDON CAB CO- V- METROCAB

Judge says traditional cabs are ‘devoid of inherent distinctive character’, in legal row involving new eco-friendly taxi group

A high court judge has ruled that one of London’s most famous sights, the black cab, is not that unique after all, concluding that they are “devoid of inherent distinctive character”.

Mr Justice Arnold said that the taxis are “merely a variation of the typical shape of a car” and ruled that trademarks exclusively relating to its shape should be deemed invalid.

He made the judgment on Wednesday after a legal row between the manufacturer of the traditional London taxi and the group behind a new eco-friendly cab. The ruling paves the way for the “green” taxis to hit London’s roads over the next few years.

Arnold said: “In my view the CTM [the design of the black cab] would have been perceived by the average consumer of taxis as merely a variation of the typical shape of a taxi.

“I should make it clear that, if one considers the question from the perspective of the average consumer of cars, in my view the CTM would be perceived as merely a variation of the typical shape of a car.”

The two trademarks in question during the hearing related to three-dimensional drawings of the exterior of the typical black cab.

The London Taxi Company, which is owned by Chinese group Geely, had claimed the new Metrocab was “substantially copied” from the design of the TX4, the latest version of the hackney carriage.

The Metrocab is a hybrid-powered taxi developed by Frazer-Nash Research and Ecotive. The zero-emissions vehicle uses an electric battery and a petrol engine, which extends the range of the battery.

The judge dismissed fraud allegations by the London Taxi Company as “deeply implausible” and said that even if the trademarks were valid then the Metrocab was not simply a copy of the TX4.

The Metrocab is scheduled to go into bulk production later this year and is at the forefront of a drive by Boris Johnson, the mayor of London, to ensure that all new taxis are zero-emission by 2018. Geely has pledged to invest £250m into a new facility in Coventry to produce greener versions of its black cab.

Peter Johansen, the chief executive of the London Taxi Company, said: “We are understandably disappointed by the judge’s ruling. We will review the ruling to determine our way forward.”

The London Taxi Company has been in operation since 1899, with black cabs going on to become one of the symbols of London.

A fleet of black cabs featured in the closing ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics, and last year it was voted as London’s favourite transport “design icon” in a survey conducted by Transport for London (TfL) and the London Transport Museum.

It represents another blow for the traditional London taxi as it battles against the rise of Uber, the car-hire smartphone app.

TfL announced on Wednesday that after conducting a consultation it would not be introducing proposed new regulations that would have affected Uber, including forcing minicab operators to provide booking confirmation details to the passenger at least five minutes before a journey starts.

The high court decision follows a similar ruling on Wednesday about KitKat, with the same judge deciding that Nestlé could not trademark the shape of its chocolate bar.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/20/black-cabs-not-unique-high-court-rules-green-taxis