[taxicabjesus]

> “Minicab drivers throughout the UK have been exploited by operators for years but Uber’s entry to the market has accelerated a race to the bottom.”

My fellow taxicab drivers found it easy to complain about the company I drove for, but I thought they tried to be as fair as possible. For example, on my fourth day of driving the dispatching system went down for a good part of the day. I was given a credit for that day's lease, so I did pretty well.

The independent contractor model was adopted by the taxi industry because initiative is what makes the difference between making money and not. If the company paid drivers minimum wage, there'd be no incentive to work the system to make as many trips as possible.

I think limousine companies, and those blue airport shuttle vans, are able to pay their drivers hourly because they have scheduled pickups, and the driver can be rated on making it to his/her pickups on time / etc.