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IF you order an Uber in Manchester then you’ll be able to pay in cash, as the city becomes the first in Europe to accept cash payments.
At present, users register a debit or credit card through the smartphone app and payments are taken electronically at the end of the journey.
The cash option has already been trialled in Singapore in a bid to attract more customers and the private hire firm is now expanding the scheme to the UK.
A spokesman from Uber said: “We’re excited to announce that Manchester is one of the first cities – and the first one in Europe – to offer cash as a payment option for all riders in Manchester.
“No need to do anything different than you are used to, just open the Uber app today, select cash as a payment option and request a safe, convenient and affordable ride at the tap of a button.
When you arrive at your destination your driver will collect the fare and return any change.”
The spokesperson added that they have no plans to expand the scheme, at the moment.
The company launched in the UK back in 2012 and has seen thousands of customers downloading the app each day.
Users order a taxi to their location and can choose from a range of cars.
Prices can vary depending on the time of day, location, weather and traffic.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1998755/now-you-can-pay-for-your-uber-in-cash-if-you-live-in-manchester/
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A self-driving taxi being trialled in Singapore has had its first accident.
nuTonomy, the firm behind the scheme, said the car had clipped a small lorry while driving at about four miles per hour.
It played down the incident as a "small prang", saying only minor damage was caused and that neither of the two engineers on board were hurt.
The Singapore scheme, which began in August, was the first around the world trialling driverless taxis.
The nuTonomy spokesperson said that given this was a trial, small accidents were not unexpected and that the idea of the testing was to learn from what went wrong.
The project is using six small Renault and Mitsubishi electric vehicles, equipped with the company's software and cameras. Each has a system of lasers which operate like a radar to monitor the car's surroundings.
But while the vehicles are doing the driving themselves in a small area of the city, drivers are there to monitor the performance and as a backup in case something goes wrong. Currently the vehicles are not taking paying passengers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37689726
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A Glasgow taxi driver has been fined £400 after hitting a cyclist, who later died, with his driver's door.
Joseph Connelly, 54, parked his black hackney on Keppochhill Road on 20 May 2015 and opened the door as David Thomson was passing on his bike.
Connelly hit the pensioner who fell off his bicycle and suffered severe head injuries.
Glasgow Sheriff Court heard the 67-year-old, originally from Dundee, was taken to hospital but died later.
Connelly, from Garnethill, Glasgow, pled guilty to opening the door while it was parked "to the endangerment and injury" of Mr Thomson.
'Swerved round'
When questioned at the scene, Connelly said "He didn't hit the door, he swerved round it and lost control."
His lawyer said Connelly had initially thought he had not hit Mr Thomson and believed it was his satchel bag that clipped the door.
Fining Connelly, Sheriff Celia Sanderson said the incident was "tragic" and she noted her "surprise" at the charge Connelly faced.
She pointed out he had not been charged with causing Mr Thomson's death.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-37691400
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BRISTOL
A man who falsely imprisoned two young women after posing as a taxi driver has been jailed.
Anthony Steven Cox, 53, of Salisbury Street, Bristol admitted picking the women up at a taxi rank on Corn Street, Bristol at approximately 5am on Sunday, 8 May.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of false imprisonment at Bristol Crown Court today (18/10) where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison and made the subject of a five-year restraining order which prohibits him from parking in a taxi rank and from being in a vehicle alone with any unknown women.
The women, both aged in their early 20s, got into Cox’s silver Ford Focus after he agreed to take them home for a fixed price.
When one of the women asked how much she owed for her part of the journey he told them he wasn’t a taxi.
The pair then repeatedly asked to leave the car and even opened one of the doors as Cox drove around a roundabout, only for him to ignore their requests.
He eventually slowed to a stop, allowing the women to jump out.
One of Cox’s victims then took a photo of his car on her phone before calling the police.
ANPR cameras later caught Cox’s car on Old Market, Bristol at 6.25am where he was arrested.
Investigating officer Dai Nicholas said: “This was a very frightening and distressing experience for these two young women who thought they were getting into a registered taxi.
“They deserve immense credit both for their bravery in attending court and for their quick-thinking in taking a photo of Cox’s car which led to him being apprehended shortly afterwards."
https://goo.gl/mT8pIR
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EDINBURGH
A pedestrian suffered face and chest injuries after a man on crutches jumped out of a taxi and attacked him.
The victim had just left a pub on Main Street in Newtongrange, Midlothian, on Sunday evening when the suspect got out of a private hire taxi and confronted him.
The man, who was using two crutches, attacked him before getting back in the taxi and leaving the scene.
The "shaken" 53-year-old victim went to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary where he was treated for facial and chest injuries.
Detectives have appealed for any witnesses to come forward, stressing they are keen to trace the driver of the silver private taxi.
The suspect is described as a white man who is around 5ft 10in with a heavy build. He has blue eyes, a bald head and is in his late forties.
https://goo.gl/x0sTMx
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Brentwood taxi drivers are losing out because Uber drivers are using taxi ranks, according to the owner of a firm in the town.
Uber, an American company that uses a smartphone app to connect cars for hire with people wanting to get around, now operates in 516 cities worldwide, including London and the counties surrounding it.
The cars are not licensed to pick use taxi ranks but Stephen Smith, who owns Brentwood Station-based Treble Twenty Cars and Couriers, said that is exactly what they are doing.
"They are not licensed to sit on ranks in Brentwood and people in Brentwood could get in an Uber not knowing that it isn't a proper taxi," he said.
"It's only a problem on Friday and Saturday nights because Uber drivers know there is an opportunity there with people at the Sugar Hut so they are all coming to Brentwood.
"That's fine apart from the fact that they shouldn't be sitting in taxi ranks trying to be taxis."
Mr Smith said the problem has been evident in recent months and he expects it to get much worse heading towards Christmas as more people will be going out at night.
"If we don't do something about it now it will get much worse," he said.
"The problem is that there isn't much enforcement and the enforcement officers aren't working when they are doing it because it's at night.
"I expect the problem to increase because Uber are spreading out of London more and more as time goes on."
https://goo.gl/pQoxCz
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