You say they should use the knowledge to their advantage, I would say they do, you are aware of it, how do you suggest they can do so beyond public awareness that exists? Your first paragraph appears very contradictory to me....you complain of an uber lack of knowledge yet say its close enough then that the knowledge is a usp and seem to imagine there is some obvious magic way this can be used to promote themselves and they choose not to? Most people are aware of the london knowledge, not many that a lot of other cities have there own versions for their regulated licensed taxi trade, most just use a local unlicensed minicab and compare apples to oranges.
Part of a regulated fleet check is condition, cleanliness and even a smell test for vehicles, with many council otlr company checks occuring monthly to six monthly, you maycsay not often enough but these have to be paid for which add to the overhead and we are back to your competitive point, uber cars may appear better in this regard but they are newer, a fairer comparison would be long running minicabs to licensed vehicles if comparing int nal conditions, admittedly in the case of londons frequency of use I dare say some black cabs get abused but it is not the drivers making those messes it is us the passengers.
Most modern cars have aircon, blame lti and other black cab manufacturers not the drivers for lack of that, you seem to think the drivers can choose in london what vehicle they use, they dont get a say, they are not providing your "less desirable option" of the black cab and others may prefer one to a prius or skoda, according to tfl tourists certainly do. A lot of what you appear to think are driver choices are those forced upon them by tfl or local authority regulation.
I have met just as many bigotted and miserable minicab drivers as regulated ones. Given how many black cabbies are of ethnic origin these days I might be tempted to suggest you yourself are playing a bit on the stereotype
Your last paragraph is the most telling, yes it should be easy but it is the gov and local authority regulations that make the prices uncompetitive not the drivers as you seem to think, rates are set by your local councils not the drivers, hence the requirement of a metered rate hence the requirement of a meter hence this current is the mobile a meter debacle, the current devision is bring misunderstood to a degree imho.....hence others posting that uber is now legal, the question was is the mobile a meter as in London if it is only regulated black cabs can use meters...so the decision was no they are not meters....ok so far...however in other cities local regulations state that licensed hacney carriages and private hire vehicles must use a recognised meter so now does that mean the same ruling makes uber illegal in those cities?
It is not as simple as some seem to think, it is an over regulated trade that has suffered nationwide from different councils rulings and agendas over the years and simply put should not be anywhere near as beurocratic and red tape filled as it is....but it is....if anything the likes of uber shows the system needs a sort out but simply blaming those at the user facing end of that system is extremely naive. If you study the protests more closely you will see that noone has asked to be protected from competition, just that the competition needs to be a fair one.
