Uber’s battle with TfL shows how mobile tech is challenging the current regulations for taxi travel in London.

Any new technology-based business model, particularly in the world of travel, is bound to have an impact on the regulations and rules designed to meet historic ways of doing business. As we are seeing with Uber, mobile tech is clearly challenging the current regulations for taxi travel in London.

Much of today’s regulations arise from the 1907 London Cab and Stage Carriage Act; designed to stop hackney carriages imposing a minimum fare of a shilling for any journey under two miles. Regulations needed to change as motor tech (horseless carriages) and infrastructure tech (the underground) where providing new modes of travel.

Carriages became ‘taxi’ cabs with mechanical tech (the ‘taximeter’) allowing measurements of time or distance to determine fares. Uber is now using ‘information tech’ (mobile, GPS, internet, apps and cloud services) to challenge a traditional ‘metering-based’ transportation model.

Uber has created a cocktail using location information (Where am I? Where is the nearest taxi?), service information (How much will it cost? How soon can it be here?) and a frictionless transaction model that works with one click for request and payment.

The new Uber model goes much further than the taximeter. It doesn’t just offer a new approach to pricing, it proposes a whole new business model. The current debate, therefore, is not just about making minor changes but trying to resolve major gaps in regulations which never envisaged Uber or more than one business model for taxis on London’s streets.

Whilst some of what is proposed helps passenger and public safety, TfL should be careful not to destroy the improved service being provided for London travellers (eg an average pick up time by Uber of three minutes).

Of the 25 TfL proposals, a few, quite rightly address driver and car quality but many unfortunately go to the heart of ‘taking the tech out of Uber’ or adding unnecessary cost that customers will ultimately pay for.

“Operators must provide booking confirmation details to the passenger at least five minutes prior to the journey.”

This imposes a five-minute wait time in the system which clearly doesn’t help the customer.

“Companies must not show vehicles being available for hire either visibly or virtually via an app.”

In an increasingly connected smart city, where we have remote sensors monitoring air quality, it seems bizarre that we can’t know where a vehicle is that we want to use?  Not to mention that it would be hard to justify applying this rule to Uber unless it is was also applied to the black cab apps such as Hailo and Gett, both of which also show the availability and location of vehicles.

“Operators must offer a facility to pre-book up to seven days in advance.” Whilst this may appear a minor request, TfL is asking Uber to change its business model. Such a change would impose a major limitation on what is designed to be a dynamic network of cars meeting changing user needs that can only harm customers.

The current uproar from travellers (petition numbers of 120,000 and rising quickly) is not surprising. TfL needs to recognise that London has to cater for multiple types of taxi business models if that is what the marketplace wants and the tech can provide.

Only by adopting such a strategy, will London be seen as a city that embraces new technology and takes its place by 2020 as the greatest tech city on the planet.

Chris Wray, partner, Kemp Little Consulting