Addison Lee minicab firm attempts to win over cyclists with new service

I got to agree with other commenters who is hink that the market for this service is very small. There are instances where you might want to get a cab with your bike (add the BMXer on their way to Bay 66 on a rainy night to the other examples) but even in London I'm skeptical that sufficient demand exists.

From what I gather, Addison Lee's business model is this: it rents the vehicles to the drivers who then have to work enough to pay the rental and the cut that AL take out of the fare.

The rumour is that, in order to make a living, drivers have to work 60 hours+ a week. As they're minicabs, there's no tachograph and they aren't AL employees so are subject to working time directive.

It's a situation that's pretty much guaranteed to encourage bad driving. See also construction lorries.

From a marketing point of view this looks more like a branding/positioning gimmick than a real proposition - probably trying to undo the damage (self) inflicted by John Griffin.
People ride bikes in London to ride bikes, not to ride halfway and then take a taxi. I can't see what customer need they've identified here that is widespread enough to generate any real income...

For now let's give them the benefit of the doubt but a better judge of their cyclist-friendliness will be our day to day experience with their drivers - if this doesn't improve then we know this new idea is just window dressing...

Quite why you'd be getting a cab when cycling is cheaper and quicker is beyond me (OK, maybe you're bonked, drunk or have had a catastrpoic mechanical....)
But good to see Griffin has stepped down so maybe I'll stop laughing quite so hard every time I overtake one of their drivers.

I don't quite understand why if I have a bike I'd need a cab. Perhaps if I'd just been knocked off and it was damaged...

Don't like to be sceptical but it sounds like marketing to me. AL drivers still drive like they're in some sort of Mad Max race.

Why would you want to put your bike in a cab ?

Isn't this a bit like putting lipstick on a pig considering their antagonistic history with cyclists?

from my experiences of riding every day in London, its the drivers in the Addison Lee people carriers that provide the most 'sketchy' moments for cyclists, rather than black 'hackney' carriage cabs

whether its driving into the bicycle box on a red light, parking in cycle lanes, making lane changes without indicating, half-lane position on dual lane roads, sudden stops, driving whilst using cell phone, etc. basically very poor driving

I've lost count of the number of times I have been waiting at a red light, the lights change to green and the driver in the Addison Lee vehicle has not noticed because he is too busy using his cell phone.....cue honking of horns as drivers behind have also realized!

Their change of heart won't have come about from wanting to be better corporate citizens.. its purely to increase market share, a market they previously (and possibly continue to) think of as scum......
Many cabbies behavior and business practices globally has led to Uber, and now they are crying foul and sucking up..
I'm leaning toward this being them reaping what they have sewn...

An Addison Lee coach knocked my brother off his bike a few years ago. Took him 2 years to get his injuries sorted out and the driver was done for dangerous driving, so he got a substantial payout. He said that the thing that wound him up was that that immediately after the accident, the Addison Lee driver was only interested in contacting his boss, rather than whether my brother was OK.

Will assume the one bike is a tandem.

Give them a chance. Someone might have been sacked. Someone might have been brought in...... Give them a chance to change.

Addison Lee logo on white ... I'd love to see it on black.

Two cyclists, one cab?

Giggity.

Two people and one bike? Not two people and two bikes?

I assume that the "one bike" is not allowed to be a tandem?

Does anyone else think that, as a cyclist, telling Addison Lee your exact location might be dangerous?

Someone catching on to how many cyclists in London are now boycotting black cabs.