Withdrawing Uber licence is 'the only way to make them listen'

"It comes as a little surprise that again Uber have lost their license in London, even if only temporarily.

"Uber do not have the controls necessary to run a wide scale transport service and assure passengers and authorities of adequate safety standards. Add to that a marked reluctance to fully cooperate with transport authorities and Uber might have predicted this scenario.

"Uber are working on the basis that there are 3.5 million users in London and 45,000 drivers which will weigh heavily on Transport for London (TfL). After all they are all voters in London elections.

"However, TfL have found that the only way to make Uber listen is to withdraw their license and let them appeal. That seems to gain Uber's attention and produces concessions towards better controls.

"TfL have no wish to deprive Londoners of low cost convenient transport and we have seen the emergence of plenty of competitors such as Bolt, Ola, and Kapten.

"Studies also suggest that half the passengers carried by Uber would otherwise have travelled on public transport or walked. To what extent is this in the public and environments best interests? It begs the question, is Uber really a good thing for London?"