Justin Peters

CEO & Founder of Kabbee

 1 The Broadway

Crouch End

London

N8 8DU 

Monday 16^th March 2015

Leon Daniels

Transport for London

11^th Floor, Zone R4

Palestra

197 Blackfriars Road

London

SE1 8NJ

Dear Leon,

I am writing to you regarding the new 20mph zones that are due to be introduced in London, starting in April.  At Kabbee we liaise closely with more than 60 of London’s leading licensed minicab fleets on a regular basis, and therefore understand their requirements to move around the City and to provide an effective service to London’s passengers.

The reasons behind the new safety measures are clear and passenger and pedestrian safety is paramount to all professional drivers in London. We work closely with all fleets on our platform to ensure that safety measures are prioritised at all times.  However, to impose the new 20mph speed restrictions 24 hours a day, will negatively impact the flow of traffic, unnecessarily.

During high pedestrian footfall periods (from 7am until 8pm) the 20mph speed restriction is sensible, however after 8pm at night, when more pedestrians become passengers, our recommendation is that the speed limit should return to 30mph to promote a better flow of traffic and keep the city moving.

Since our launch in June 2011, the Kabbee app has been downloaded by more than 500,000 Londoners, who use the app to access 60 fleets and thousands of licensed minicabs 24 hours a day.  Kabbee is designed to ‘Make Minicabs Mighty’, to help Londoners move around the city – this request is part of our mission.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Justin Peters,

Kabbee Founder and CEO

Kabbee Hosts Industry Roundtable on Driverless Vehicles in London

In September 2014, Kabbee hosted an industry-first roundtable which brought together some of the most influential names in the private hire & taxi sector to discuss the development of driverless cars and what they mean for the industry. As Kabbee represents over 70 of London’s leading licensed fleets, its senior management team was well-placed to address and lead a discussion around the subject.

Who attended?

• Justin Peters, Founder and CEO Kabbee

• Phil Makinson, Kabbee Co-Founder

• Chris Lamontagne, Head of Growth, GetTaxi

• Steve McNamara, General Manager, LTDA

• Sean McGrath, Owner, Airport Direct (minicab fleet)

• Helen Chapman, Deputy Director of London Taxis and Private Hire, Transport for London (TfL)

• Nick Collins, Transport Correspondent, Daily Telegraph

• Nicola Rosa, minicab and black cab user

• Chairman – David LG Hearn

What interesting points did the discussion reveal?  Here’s what the attendees discussed:

• Stakeholders believe the biggest challenge for driverless cars to be implemented successfully will be gaining the confidence of the people that are expected to ride in them.
• Why are driverless cars coming before driverless buses? They would surely be easier to develop as they take the same route all the time.
• It would be better to test driverless cars in the logistics and delivery industry, rather than with passengers on-board.  It would be less risk, and would mean high volumes of tests can be done in a short space of time.

What are the issues? The stakeholders said:

• Effective satellite navigation technology is critical, as opposed to essentially driverless technology.  Satellite navigation is still not yet fool-proof.
• It’s important to choose the correct size of vehicle to ensure system efficiency.
• There are two sets of issues. The technological issues, and then practical issues, such as drunk people in the early hours, getting locked inside, and vandalism – all those really basic things, which if not solved cannot ensure passenger safety. For example, what’s the incentive to treat the cars with respect?

Can the minicab and taxi sector benefit from driverless cars now and in the future?

• Operator efficiency/increased income could come from being able to do more things at the same time (sitting at home and controlling 2/3 driverless cars at a time).
• In the longer term, driverless vehicles will drive costs down, so that volumes go up, meaning there’s more work for the provision of transport.
• A fixed journey model would work best.
• There is a potential to eventually differentiate products – a meeting room on wheels.

What’s next?

The majority of industry representatives who attended the roundtable have now formed a longer-term driverless cars steering group, to ensure that the sector is well-represented in all decisions around enhancements in London.  Justin Peters, Founder and CEO of Kabbee, is keen to host such industry roundtables on a regular basis, to run discussion sessions on any topics / developments that may have a future effect on the industry.

Want to know more about what matters to Kabbee, or want to suggest a good topic for discussion? – we’d love to hear from you! Email us at Kabbee@sensecommunications.co.uk

The Kabbee Team.

Here at Kabbee we know how much our customers love a treat, that’s why we’ve made it even easier to become a “LoyalBee”! Here’s the new Kabbee Treats system works:

• GoldBees – will now need to earn just 400 miles to qualify!
• SilverBees - will now need to earn just 200 miles to qualify!
• BronzeBees – will now need to earn just 50 miles to qualify!

Here’s how passengers can earn miles:

• Every £1 spent = 1 mile
• Referring friends that make their first booking with Kabbee = 10 miles
• Choosing an executive car: £1 = 2 miles
• NEW! Travelling to or from the airport: £1 = 2 miles

Kabbee Treats includes: a full refund for late cabs as part of its 5 Minute Punctuality Promise, upgrade to an executive cab, and £5 credit.

We’re always on the look out for new Kabbee Treats provided by our great  partners to bring even more choice for your rewards. Here is the list of current brands you can get exclusive offers from:

• Bloom & Wild
• Pact Coffee
• LateRooms.com
• Naked Wines
• Hubbub.co.uk
• La Gourmandina
• Housekeep
• LOVESPACE

Go to Kabbee Treats, discover your status and start redeeming your rewards!

Happy travels,

The Kabbee Team

Planning a romantic getaway this Valentine’s Day? Kabbee has the perfect package for you!

Kabbee is offering its lovely users the chance to get their hands on £100 Kabbee credit with a fancy executive car, a premium ‘wine and dine’ experience at MASH worth £125, courtesy of Zomato, and £50 subscription to beautiful Bloom & Wild bouquets.

Get booking ASAP for your chance to win – you only have until 11th February when the lucky love bird is chosen! The more you book, the more special your Valentine’s Day could be…

Good luck!

The Kabbee Team

Full terms and conditions

General T&Cs

• The competition closes on Wednesday 11^th February 2015.
• The winner will be selected at random by Kabbee among all the customers that have booked between 1-11 of February 2015.
• All the prizes will be redeemable on the 14th of February 2015.

Kabbee T&Cs

• The prize is exclusive for Kabbee users.
• The £100 credit will be added to the winner’s account on Saturday 14^th February.
• The £100 credit can be used for multiple journeys on or after Valentine’s Day.
• The £100 credit will be a valid for one month after redemption.

Bloom & Wild T&Cs

• The prize can be delivered within the UK only, via Royal Mail First Class.
• The three month subscription from Bloom & Wild is one box of letterbox flowers delivered once a month for three months, starting with The Juliet on or before Valentine’s Day.
• The winner may choose to delay their subscription until a later date, by contacting Bloom & Wild via email at hello@bloomandwild.com.
• If the winner chooses to redeem their prize after Saturday 14^th February, they will no longer be eligible for The Juliet bouqet.
• All three bouquets will be sent to the same recipient.
• For more information about Bloom & Wild, visit: https://bloomandwild.com/

Zomato T&Cs

• The voucher is worth £125 to eat and drink at MASH restaurant in London.
• The voucher can be redeemed by phoning MASH in advance and mentioning the Zomato voucher whilst booking.
• The voucher may not be applicable on all items on the menu. 
• If the voucher is used for a meal less than the total value, the balance amount will not be refunded.
• The user shall pay the difference of the meal value and voucher value, if any.
• The voucher is not applicable in conjunction with any other offers or promotions.
• No two vouchers can be clubbed together at the same time; one voucher per table only.
• A Zomato voucher can only be used once by the user and shall not be replicated, reprinted, forwarded or shared. The user shall be penalised for any breach.
• The voucher expires on Thursday 26th November 2015.
• For more information about MASH, visit: https://www.zomato.com/london/mash-soho?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=kabbee

This month we’re offering you double Kabbee miles with each booking you make*. Not only that, if you make just one booking in January you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win a holiday worth £1,000 with our Kabbee Treats partner LateRooms.com.

Get fantastic treats from Kabbee and our amazing partners. We’re also very pleased to welcome Bloom & Wild on board our loyalty programme. Now you can choose from an even wider range of treats – blooming brilliant!

*Loyalty programme is not available to view on Blackberry, Windows and Kindle at the moment. To view your status and treats please sign in to the app and website.

Happy Travels,

The Kabbee Team

On 5^th January there is a scheduled bus strike (pay dispute), which is going to affect lots of London routes.  This is a major issue as it will be the first day back to work for many, and as people won’t have been online, etc, they may be surprised to find out the news on Monday morning when they get to the bus stop

To see more details about the strikes and the routes that will be affected, please click here.

After such a relaxing Christmas and New Year break, getting to work on Monday (5th Jan) is going to be hard enough, without….wait for it…..bus strikes. “Noooooo” we hear you cry.

Due to dispute over pay, buses on a 23 routes in East, Central and West London will not be running, leaving commuters to find other ways to get to work.  The strike is planned between 00:01 and 23:59 and will also affect some services operating on Monday night into the early hours of Tuesday 6 January, too.

Kabbee to the rescue

We thought we’d let you know now, so you can be organised and pre-book a licensed minicab, or arrange another route to work.  You might want to alert your nearest and dearest colleagues too, to save them rocking up late on day one in the office of 2015.  If you share your dedicated in-app referral code with anyone who is going to struggle, you and them will benefit from £10 Kabbee credit too!  Sweet. Every cloud has a silver lining.

Happy New Year, London!

The Kabbee Team

London’s best licensed minicab fleets and drivers are being rewarded every month by Kabbee as part of its Stars of the Month incentive. In addition Kabbee hosted its annual Fleet Awards on Tuesday evening to celebrate the success of fleets from across London.

To recognise the best performing fleets in 2014, Kabbee gave out seven trophies to the winners at their Fleet Awards in Central London. Let’s catch-up with a few of the winners to hear what they have to say…

Driver of the Year 2014

Winning driver joins fleet owner to claim his trophy

Name: Hassan M Abudlle

Drives for: Airport Express

One in a million: Hassan is shocked to be crowned Driver of the Year of 2014, “Wow…what a big surprise – I am shocked. Well, not completely shocked because I have put in a big effort all year round and looked after my passengers, but it’s just such a big deal to win this award out of thousands of minicab drivers. I am very grateful to Kabbee for recognising my hard work and hopefully you’ll see me again next year!

“My main job as a minicab driver is airport transfers – nearly every day I drive to and from London’s airports, meeting new people on the way. I’ve learnt to really understand my passengers’ needs and know when they need extra support from me with luggage, directions etc. I must say, I’m always on time and enjoy providing a reliable service to everyone.”

Fleet of the Year 2014 / Best ASAP Fleet

Fleet owner, Sean McGrath scoops two awards

Fleet name: Airport Direct

Fleet owner: Sean McGrath

Sean’s fleet has been with Kabbee right from the start, and scooped two awards this year. He comments, “I would say it all comes down to my amazing staff…they do their jobs properly and I can’t ever fault them. We have taken the time to learn about software systems and the most effective ways to use them, and training the staff plays a vital role in that. Our team swap shifts from morning to evening, so to maintain the continuity we rely on Kabbee to support us.

“We have a very collaborative approach with Kabbee, so that we can make the best out of the system and deal with supply and demand efficiently. Although we’ve made mistakes in the past, Kabbee has always taught us how to improve and their lovely customer service team are always at the end of the phone for us. By working closely together, we are able to increase the number of drivers coming onboard and will continue to fight against other fast-growing apps in the market to build the platform.”

Best Coverage Fleet

Swiss Cottage fleet owner Raj with Kabbee’s CEO

Fleet name: Raj Swiss

Fleet owner: Swiss Cottage Cars

Since 1983, Swiss Cottage Cars has grown from just one car to 400 loyal drivers. Raj tells us how he won Best Coverage Fleet: “It’s great to win an award like this – very encouraging for our fleet, and proves how brilliant technology is. Our fleet has implemented the Live Plot technology to improve the despatch software and cut dead mileage for drivers. Every fleet should have Live Plot on 24/7.

“We are a big fleet and cover most Kabbee jobs, which are always good. The software has really improved over the years, and I am seeing the results now. There has been lots of competition recently but we welcome it, in fact it’s healthy for us – it means we have to step up our game and continue to improve. We do everything we can to support our drivers because we want them to enjoy working with us, and be a part of the team long-term.”