Journal
Regulation, data and market for licensed transport, read from the point of view of the people who put the cars on the road. Every article cites its sources.
London lost a third of its taxis while private hire grew by 80%
Between 2013 and 2023 the number of licensed taxis in London fell from 22,200 to 15,100, while licensed private hire vehicles rose from 49,900 to 89,600. The passengers did not disappear. They changed queue.
All four numbers are in the London Assembly release, verbatim: "In 2023, there were 89,600 Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs) licensed in London, up from 49,900 in 2013. In comparison, the number of black taxis in London has fallen from 22,200 in 2013 to 15,100 in 2023." The 2023 pair is confirmed independently in the DfT accredited statistics, Table 1. Keep the release first: it is the readable source, and the committee PDF has no extractable text. -->
London lost a third of its taxis while private hire grew by 80%
Between 2013 and 2023 the number of licensed taxis in London fell from 22,200 to 15,100, while licensed private hire vehicles rose from 49,900 to 89,600. The passengers did not disappear. They changed queue.
The hotel channel is being wired, and not to the operator
In the spring of 2026 two announcements a month apart put Uber inside the software hotels run on: the ride is no longer requested by phone, it is requested from the stay screen, and the fare goes on the room bill.
Uber owns the dispatch software the trade runs on
Uber agreed to buy Autocab in August 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority cleared the deal unconditionally in March 2021 and it completed that April. Autocab sells booking and dispatch technology to the operators Uber competes with.