London Taxi drivers will be staging a protest today against Uber.
It seems that they are unhappy with what they see as the lack of regulation of Uber, and the use the Uber App which they believe is akin to a taxi meter – which in London is limited to “Black Cabs” only.
The protest will commence from 14:00 today (11th June) with up to 12,000 drivers expected to take part.
The Metropolitan Police have imposed on the protest, specifically:
- The protesters may assemble in Whitehall SW1, north and southbound carriageways and Parliament Street SW1, north and southbound carriageways.
- The demonstration must not start before 14:00
- The demonstration must not end later than 15:00
- No-one will be allowed to join the demonstration when the area is deemed to be congested by the tactical commander of the event
Transport for London has referred the case to the courts over the Black Cab complaints – however, this is going to take time to heard and a decision to be made.
Uber has around 3000 register drivers in London compared to the 25,000 Black cabs and 44,000 Private hire taxis. Uber operates under a “Private Hire” licence.
If your travels take you towards Trafalgar Square or the nearby area, it could be worth sticking to the Underground or walking around London as surface roads will be jammed – impacting taxi, bus and the road network in the area.
Meanwhile, there will protests around Europe against Uber, with action expected in Paris, Berlin,
Of note:
- In Paris, protests will involve blocking connections between Paris and Charles de Gaulle Airport, as well as attempting to cut off Orly Airport
- In Berlin, 1000 drivers are expected to make a protest on Kurfuerstendamm around noon
- Madrid drives are planning a 24 hour strike
- Milan is expecting 5000 drivers to go on strike, with a protest at the Public Works Ministry at 13:00CET.
Uber is sometimes called a “disruptive technology”, changing the way things are traditionally done.
Look like there’s going to be a lot of disruption today.