Uber is courting its arch enemy, London black cabs, inviting them to add their services to its app for the first time. Licensed taxis in 33 countries, including France and the US, have already received similar invitations. According to Uber this has brought significant new trade to traditional taxis.
It is not clear that black cabs accepting this offer will see much benefit, however – and sure enough their trade association has put out a statement to say that most will not be participating. Black cabs’ main advantages over apps like Uber are kerb hailing and taxi ranks, which are probably their biggest sources of income. They also have their own ride-hailing app and already feature on Uber rivals Bolt and FreeNow.
