Uber can keep on trucking on the streets of London, court rules

Ride-hailing app Uber is lawful and can stay in gear on the streets of London, Britain’s High Court ruled Friday in a setback for angry drivers of the city’s iconic black cabs.

The court said that the popular app did not function like a regular taxi meter, as Uber’s opponents have argued. Such meters are illegal if used in unregulated private cars. Instead, the court noted, the app relies on GPS data to calculate fares based on distance and time.

The ruling was praised as a “victory for common sense” by Uber, which has proven extremely popular in cities around the world and spawned a host of imitators. Hundreds of thousands of smartphone users use the app here in the British capital.

But London’s cabbies vowed to continue fighting what they consider an unfair upstart that breaks the rules they themselves are obliged to uphold.

Uber, which is based in San Francisco, has been hit by protests across Europe, including one last year that brought London’s traffic-clogged streets to a complete halt. Four months ago, a demonstration by cabbies in Paris turned violent, prompting American rock star Courtney Love, who was caught up in the protest, to complain that she would be “safer in Baghdad” than in France.

Friday’s court ruling came in response to a request by Transport for London, the city’s transportation authority, for a clarification of whether the ride-hailing service was lawful.

“With legal certainty established … we will continue to work hard with all of our stakeholders to deliver taxi and private hire services which meet the needs of modern London,” Leon Daniels, the transport authority’s managing director of surface transport, said in a statement.

That could yet mean some regulations being imposed on Uber. Daniels said his agency is considering stricter rules on insurance and English proficiency by drivers.

The BBC reported that the transportation authority could also mandate a minimum five-minute wait for a passenger to be picked up after he or she books a car on Uber. That would allow London’s licensed black cabs to remain the only cars that can be hailed instantly.

Cabbies contend that Uber offers an inferior and potentially dangerous alternative, since Uber drivers are not required to meet the same safety standards. Nor do they undergo the rigorous examination that taxi drivers must subject themselves to in order to earn their medallions, including, most famously, mastery of “the Knowledge” – familiarity with London’s confusing network of streets and of the best shortcuts between them.

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