Wow, David.
I'm not kicking a sector while it's down at all. But a lot of the cabs are well overdue their useably date and need scrapping/upgrading. I'm sure the Uber's that fail ULEZ won't be exempt and will be charged as well. At least i'd hope so. That said, empirical evidence suggests that most are hybrids.
I'm not sure how Ubers have exclusivity on gouging though. They have the old surge pricing nonsense which is out of order, but they're still way cheaper than a black cab, especially if they decide go the tourist route.
I've been a heavy user of black cabs over the years, but the paying for convenience (over a mini cab) and satnav have left them somewhat behind. I'd be very happy if the sector was able to reinvent itself and happy for them to have advantages like bus lane use etc. I don't want rid of black cabs, i do want rid of the old worn out soot producing ones, that's all.
Rob Reynolds ● 1663d