Uber drivers will transport non-emergency patients around in tie-up with social care start-up Cera March 6, 2017 Uber drivers will be trained to transport non-emergency patients around, according to social care start-up Cera, which has partnered with the ride-hailing app. The partnership will also enable Cera's London-based carers to use Uber to get to the people they are caring for as quickly as possible. It forms part of an aim to "bring greater independence and [...]
Uber used a secret technology called Greyball to hide from regulators and avoid being shut down March 4, 2017 The blows just keep coming for Uber. It's now been revealed that for years the ride-hailing app has deceived regulators in areas where its services were resisted or banned by authorities by using a secret technology. Greyball, a programme that uses data from the Uber app and other technologies, was created to protect the firm from "violations [...]
Focus On Queen’s Park: Good schools, shops and value lure families to north west London March 3, 2017 Garden towns and villages have made a surprising comeback of late, largely as a by-product of our desperate search for a solution to the housing crisis. The government announced at the start of the year that it intended to build three new towns of 10,000 houses each, in a bid to reach a target of [...]
Taxi for Uber: High Court rules in favour of TfL saying private hire drivers will have to pass a written English exam March 3, 2017 Uber has lost a key part of its High Court case against Transport for London (TfL), after a High Court ruled private hire drivers will be forced to pass a written English exam. The firm did though, win other parts of its case, so it won't have to provide a telephone call centre for passengers open 24 hours [...]
TfL tells court: Our English tests for Uber drivers might be excessive, but it’s the best we have March 2, 2017 Lawyers for Transport for London (TfL) today told a court it is aware the testing it is proposing for private hire drivers, like Uber drivers, might be considered excessive, but it doesn't have a suitable alternative. Uber is challenging the legal basis for rules proposed by TfL which would require private hire drivers to take a [...]
Getting Brexit ready? German rail operator revives plans for high-speed London to Frankfurt trains March 2, 2017 Express trains from London to Frankfurt might be on the agenda sooner than you'd think. High-speed trains from the capital to Germany's financial centre could be launched as early as 2020 in a move that would help the UK solidify links to mainland Europe in the wake of Brexit. According to The Times, the German rail [...]
Uber boss issues apology following heated argument with driver, and says it’s time to grow up March 1, 2017 Travis Kalanick has issued an apology after a video was published showing the Uber boss in a heated argument with a driver over the app's pay rates. "To say that I am ashamed is an extreme understatement," said the 40-year-old chief exec. "My job as your leader is to lead…and that starts with behaving in [...]
A signal failure on the Northern Line is still causing severe disruption for the capital March 1, 2017 The Northern Line is still dealing with severe disruptions after a signal failure this morning. While the issue has been fixed, it took longer than anticipated and Transport for London said it doesn't have a timescale of how long it'll take the line to get back to normal service. So commuters heading home in rush [...]
Transport for London turned a blind eye to the discrimination caused by new writing tests, Uber lawyer tells court March 1, 2017 Uber has today accused Transport for London (TfL) of burying its head in the sand when assessing the level of discrimination involved in its proposed English language testing. The tech giant is challenging the legal basis for rules proposed by TfL which would require private hire drivers to take a written English language test. Legal eagles for [...]
A former City headhunter is transforming a sleepy French jam-making operation into a multi million pound business March 1, 2017 A former City headhunter is transforming a sleepy French jam-making operation into a multi million pound business supplying jams and condiments to Luxury hotels around the world. Eli Gifford, 34, once placed workers in London's distressed debt hedge fund industry for Morgan Hunt. Now he has doubled the size of a small Jam-making operation in [...]