Driverless Uber taxis a 'gimmick' that is doomed to failure, cabbie boss claims

Driverless Uber taxis a 'gimmick' that is doomed to failure, cabbie boss claims EXCLUSIVE: The Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association called the driverless cabs 'hype, spin and clever marketing' and claim London is too clogged for the futuristic cars to operate Uber’s self-driving taxis that have hit UK roads for the first time will vanish within a few years because Brits will soon tire of the 'gimmick', a leading cabbies organisation has said. Steve McNamara, the general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers' Association, says London's roads are just too clogged for the Waymo robot cars to operate effectively because of a safety design that sees the vehicles remain stationary at junctions, often for minutes at a time. A batch of the taxi-hailing app's fleet started taking paying customers in the capital for the first time last Thursday - even though a human will still sit behind the wheel until the green light is given for them to operate totally autonomously. The futuristic cars use AI to analyse data about what is happening, meaning the artificial intelligence packed kit can make decisions in real time. But while fears are growing for the taxi trade, the boss of the association claimed that the new vehicle's deadheading - travelling between serving passengers - is cause for concern. Mr McNamara told the Mirror that the LTDA, the voice of London's black cab drivers for more than fifty years, is not overly worried by today's arrival, despite the AI driver officially entering service. He said: "It's hype and it's spin, it's clever marketing but that's all it is. It’s a novelty, a gimmick at best. Driverless cars are the solution that we don’t need. Who actually requires one? It'll be a bit of fun for some then that's it. "They're not even driverless [yet] and may not be for a long time. When you get in one, the safety operator is told not to speak to you. They want to give you a dystopian experience. "This is not about driverless cabs, it’s about the software they are creating that they want to go on to sell to other countries after testing it in this environment." Pin-pointing the problems Uber and other firms face, he went on: "There's a number of big issues. New York tried them and they're now banned - not because of safety, but because of deadheading. They'll do the same here. You can't just have empty cars cruising the street for hours on end. "When a cabbie hasn't got a fare, they are usually at a rank or parked up or at home in bed. London will not tolerate thousands of cars just moving for no reason. What do they do with no fares? Aimlessly run? And that's just one of the issues. "Another problem they can't get around are the road junctions. These cars are cautious by nature. They cannot move from a junction if another car is anywhere near - it'll be there until Christmas on our roads! We are currently the fifth most congested city on the planet, and we have big ambitions to be number one. London is just too busy for this idea to work." Mr McNamara added that, longer term, Brits simply won't buy into cabs with no driver unless they are making a big saving. He said: "There’s no money in it. The car is three times the price to start with, they aren't employing drivers so who maintains them? Where are they stored? "It is all about the mighty dollar and the money they do make going back to America I’m afraid. The Mayor [Sadiq Khan] is watching it very closely, he is no fool. Senior people at TFL are also watching it like hawks - even though we’ve never agreed on anything, we seem to agree on this. "But the bottom line is that once the hype stops, who will need one? Last week, one of our drivers found three iPhones in his cab and drove around all day with them. Who would get that person's property back to them? "Who will help people with their suitcases? Or elderly people, or those with bad backs? It's like the cycle lanes - it works for the fit, the rest can sod off. We're supposed to be an inclusive society" Waymo, part of tech giant Google, claims its technology dramatically cuts traffic accidents and even prevents pedestrian and cyclist injuries. But many campaigners are not convinced and the firm were forced to pause its self-driving car service in five areas earlier this year after a software issue saw some vehicles get stuck down flooded roads. David McMullen, GMB union's Senior Organiser, has urged caution over the arrival and isn't so certain the threat to jobs is minimal. "With hundreds of thousands of people employed to drive every day, we need to be really careful with the roll out of driverless cars unless we are prepared to see unprecedented levels of social and economic disruption," he said in a statement. "GMB has called on TFL and the Government to urgently take responsibility for developing a plan that protects drivers and holds operators accountable for the disruption that these services will ultimately cause. "Until a plan is put in place to manage this transition and support drivers, it is premature to move to 'driverless' services. It’s vital that we consider the implications of this before it’s too late.” Mirror Online have contacted both Waymo and Uber for comment. [Image text:] NAIL L00 LD73PFB