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A comment on Uber secures right to continue operating in London. Parent comment

Re:Uber secures right to continue operating in London by sgt101 on Monday September 28, 2020 @11:24AM (#24617625)
The losers are the black cab drivers, and arguably the Uber drivers who might have been black cab drivers. They have been com-modified - bye bye a half shot at a middle class life style for those folk.
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Re:Uber secures right to continue operating in London by richrichardsson on Monday September 28, 2020 @12:32PM (#24618423)
> the Uber drivers who might have been black cab drivers

The barrier to entry for becoming a black cab driver far exceeds that required to be an Uber driver.

Drive for Uber: get a PCO license (about £400-600); own an appropriate car; have appropriate insurance.

Drive a black cab: do the knowledge (2-4 years); get a black cab license (in excess of £1k); get a black cab (likely at least twice the price of a Prius); have appropriate insurance.

Pretty sure the number of Uber drivers who might have been black cab drivers is very, very small.

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Re:Uber secures right to continue operating in London by jonplackett on Monday September 28, 2020 @01:57PM (#24619427)
I think we have to accept now that 'The Knowledge' is now completely pointless. The uber driver has Waze, and that is probably at least as good 99% of the time and occasionally better since they'll know in advance about traffic accidents that close roads. Black cabs/drivers do not need to exist anymore in their current form.
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Re:Uber secures right to continue operating in London by HPsquared on Monday September 28, 2020 @11:55AM (#24618007)
A hackney cab already is a commodity, just a more expensive one.
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Re:Uber secures right to continue operating in London by sgt101 on Monday September 28, 2020 @12:31PM (#24618408)
We will probably end up arguing about definitions here, but I think that the hackney cab isn't a commodity because it's highly regulated and managed for both supply and quality. Yes - it's an interchangeable item (so you win on the semantics) but it can't be glutted out or somehow produced more cheaply.
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