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Old Posted Sep 25, 2017, 10:03 AM
nito nito is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,851
Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023 View Post
^ What a fucking stupid decision. I've already signed the petition in support of Uber, obviously.
Just because they're the most popular ride hailing app, it doesn't mean that they should be above reproach. Concerns have been raised by several entities, including the Metropolitan Police, and Transport for London summarised their concerns for removing the licence as follows:

Quote:
Originally Posted by TfL
- Its approach to reporting serious criminal offences.
- Its approach to how medical certificates are obtained.
- Its approach to how Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks are obtained.
- Its approach to explaining the use of Greyball in London - software that could be used to block regulatory bodies from gaining full access to the app and prevent officials from undertaking regulatory or law enforcement duties.
If you want to blame someone; blame Uber. They were given a previous warning to rectify these concerns. They didn't, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that their licence has been revoked. They do have a chance to appeal, but there are competitors who are more than willing to fill the void vacated by Uber. Not that the licence issue is their only concern; Uber faces an employment tribunal appeal this week to define whether Uber drivers are self-employed which could potentially cripple their entire business model in the UK.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023 View Post
Those Lambeth Bridge design changes that Nito posted above are fucking stupid too. It's way too long of a post to quote (really man, break those up into digestible pieces) but I'm referring to replacing roundabouts with intersections for the sake of cyclists.

Roundabouts are a VASTLY superior traffic management system. They shouldn't be changed because cyclists can't manage to navigate the.
This isn’t for the ”sake of cyclists”, it’s to drastically improve the public realm for all road users, provide a safer environment, and improve journey times. It is an accident hotspot for pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicle users due to the constricted design of the roundabouts. I have personally used the southern roundabout a dozen times, and have witnessed several incidents (car-pedestrian, car-van, car-bike) which validate TfL’s concerns, especially after several serious accidents which have resulted in fatalities.

Roundabouts make a lot of sense in more suburban locales where they act at reducing traffic speeds, but in denser environments they can and have been counterproductive, hence why they are being phased out; Elephant & Castle, Old Street, Waterloo, Westminster Bridge, and so forth.

Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023 View Post
London has done way too much to accommodate amateurs on bikes already, and it's making traffic in the city worse and worse.
In 2000, the ratio of cars to cyclists in Central London was 11:1, by 2014 this had fallen to 1.7:1, and during the course of the current year it is likely to have surpassed car traffic. On many roads, more than 70% of all traffic is cyclists. It doesn’t come as a surprise that TfL is accommodating this growth because it incurs very little cost in providing the infrastructure, and has substantial social, economic and environmental gains.
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