England’s Westmorland and Furness Council recently approved the operation of Uber. The council is the local authority covering Furness and Westmorland, areas in the ceremonial county of Cumbria. This unitary authority is a district council that also performs the functions of a county council.
Celebration in a big way for Uber and Uber passengers in these areas, right? However, traditional taxis are, of course, disagreeing, saying that these taxi companies would “without a doubt” lose money due to this decision.
"I can probably see myself going out of business,” noted Allan Hamilton, the owner of a taxi company in Penrith.
Hamilton was also saying there was no consultation made on the decision by the Liberal and Democrat local authorities.
“Disgusting!” he added. “They’re just giving our work away to Uber which is basically a middle man. We have the local knowledge, know the short way around places and everything, and people know us.”
Uber was granted a three-year license to operating hire services in a private setting across southern Cumbria.
However, Uber is defending the gift it was granted, saying that their drivers is the area would be supply and demand-driven, providing more choices for customers.
Ridesharing Forum has coordinated with other media platforms to hear the comments of the local authorities.
So, here’s what happened. Late last week, members of the council’s regulatory agreed to grant Uber the license. A representative at Uber gave the meeting no upper ceiling on the number of drivers, stating that the company was “consistently trying to grow the marketplace, but in a balanced way.”
What happens next? Well, after this approve, Uber in Westmorland and Furness will headquarter their operations in the Ulverston Business Centre on Market Street. Also, the number of staff in the office would be based on the level of demand.
Uber further noted that this license will "help boost earning opportunities for local drivers, provide passengers with greater transport options across the area and support the economy.”
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