Reply to post: Yes, but

Yes, but

Having lived in London since 1979, I feel obliged to point out that the arrival of Uber certainly felt like a good thing here. Black cabs almost always knew their way around, and were generally clean and comfortable, but were terrifically expensive, tended to disappear on rainy days (licence numbers artificially limited to keep earnings up, plus The Knowledge was/is difficult to acquire), and all too often featured drivers with issues (racist commentary, or 'Nah - won't go South, mate'). Minicabs ranged from good (properly licenced and responsibly operated, but often geographically restricted) to dreadful (crap vehicles, very dodgy drivers, no insurance, no idea where they were going). Going out at night generaly started well (use a good local minicab service or plentiful public transport) and ended poorly (public transport finished for the night; waiting on the side of the road in the rain hoping for a black cab, or phoning one local minicab service after another, to find out how many hours it would be before a car would become available). The arrival of Google maps plus Uber (or the many other versions of each) now means that I can take my wife out for dinner without worrying about whether we'll get home before dawn, or whether we'll need expedition clothing as well as something a little more formal. I have yet to experience a poor ride or a surly or uncooperative driver; and the cost of the ride no longer rivals the cost of dinner.

I know there is a lot to dislike or even despise about Uber's management style and approach, but they have been successful for a number of good reasons. Please can we figure out how to imrove things without throwing the baby out with the bath water? I have my flak jacket on - let the shelling commence. pxd