text: LONDON—Taxi drivers planned to turn a handful of European city centers into giant parking lots Wednesday, protesting the mobile car-hailing services of Uber Technologies Inc. and others. 
   
   The demonstrations highlight some challenges facing Uber and its peers as they race to increase revenue and woo investors. But the scale of the planned protests across Europe also underscores the extent to which the technology has upended one of the... ||||| Uber Technologies Inc., the car-sharing service that’s rankling cabbies across the U.S., is fighting its biggest protest from European drivers who say the smartphone application threatens their livelihoods. 
   
   Traffic snarled in cities from London to Madrid and Berlin to Paris as strikes and gatherings by more than 30,000 taxi and limo drivers blocked tourist centers and shopping districts. They are asking regulators to apply tougher rules on San Francisco-based Uber, whose software allows customers to order a ride from drivers who don’t need licenses that can cost 200,000 euros ($270,000) apiece. 
   
   The biggest city-center protest was in London, where black-cab drivers were joined by private car services and trainees to protest what they saw as the government’s failure to hold Uber to the same standards as other car services and taxis. While similar demonstrations this year have led to smashed windshields and traffic chaos in Paris, a united front in Europe highlights the challenges for Uber’s expansion. 
   
   Related: 
   
   “A strike won’t work,” European Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said in a statement today. “What we need is real dialogue where we talk about these disruptions caused by technology.” 
   
   Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg London taxi drivers next to their parked cabs on The Mall, leading away from Buckingham Palace, during a protest against Uber Technologies Inc.'s car sharing service on June 11, 2014. Close London taxi drivers next to their parked cabs on The Mall, leading away from Buckingham... Read More Close Open Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg London taxi drivers next to their parked cabs on The Mall, leading away from Buckingham Palace, during a protest against Uber Technologies Inc.'s car sharing service on June 11, 2014. 
   
   A funding round last week values the company at $17 billion, almost five times the figure in an earlier round. Out of some 128 cities it serves, 20 are in Europe, including Manchester, Lyon and Zurich. 
   
   Tourist Hubs 
   
   In London, thousands of black cabs and private hire cars descended on the tourist hubs of Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square, blocking some of the city’s busiest streets. Scooter and motorbike riders studying for the cab-driver exam joined in, honking their horns as the police tried to regulate traffic. 
   
   London taxi drivers have said that the app’s fare calculator amounts to a meter, which aren’t allowed in hired cars that aren’t registered taxis. Last month, TFL asked the High Court to rule on whether the fare system was legal. 
   
   “We have to have a license to own a cab, we have to have a driver’s license, a cab driver’s license,” said Mark Haslam, a 58-year-old black-cab driver, who took part in the protest. “For some reason they seem to be outside the law.” 
   
   Another driver, John Maloney, 64, was standing on top of a black cab on the corner of Whitehall and Trafalgar Square with a sign saying “enforce the law.” He was dressed as a judge, wearing a white wig and black cape. 
   
   Photographer: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg Spanish flags fly from a taxi cab painted with graffiti reading "RIP Uber Taxi G$$gle" as it leads demonstrators along a city highway to protest against the Uber Technologies Inc. taxi app in central Madrid, today. Close Spanish flags fly from a taxi cab painted with graffiti reading "RIP Uber Taxi G$$gle"... Read More Close Open Photographer: Angel Navarrete/Bloomberg Spanish flags fly from a taxi cab painted with graffiti reading "RIP Uber Taxi G$$gle" as it leads demonstrators along a city highway to protest against the Uber Technologies Inc. taxi app in central Madrid, today. 
   
   Arrest Warning 
   
   No major accidents or clashes were reported. The London police, saying organizers hadn’t asked for proper permission to assemble, had threatened to arrest protesters if they arrived before 2 p.m. and didn’t leave by 3 p.m. 
   
   London organizers had called on drivers to join the demonstrations with posters mimicking a World War I recruiting campaign, featuring military commander Horatio Kitchener and his characteristic handlebar mustache. 
   
   In Paris, drivers blocked the Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports this morning and prevented private-car services from picking up passengers, said Nadine Annet, vice president at the FNAT taxi association. Cabbies also slowed down traffic the A1 highway that circles Paris, leading to a 200-kilometer (120-mile) jam, local TV reported. The vast majority of France’s 55,000 professional taxis and Paris’s 15,000 cabs are on strike today, Annet said. 
   
   Kader Djielouli, a 44-year-old protester who’s been driving taxis in Paris for 15 years, said he’s lost 40 percent of his revenue since 2009 because of services like Uber. 
   
   Paris, Madrid 
   
   Private-car services “are taxis without being taxis,” he said at a cab stand near the Opera metro station in Paris. “We are against them. There need to be the same rules for all.” 
   
   Taxis drivers block highway outside Paris, near Roissy, on June 11, 2014, as they take part in a demonstration to protest against mobile car-hailing services such as Uber, which have shaken up the industry. Photorgapher: Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images Close Taxis drivers block highway outside Paris, near Roissy, on June 11, 2014, as they take... Read More Close Open Taxis drivers block highway outside Paris, near Roissy, on June 11, 2014, as they take part in a demonstration to protest against mobile car-hailing services such as Uber, which have shaken up the industry. Photorgapher: Fred Dufour/AFP via Getty Images 
   
   In Madrid, thousands of drivers marched to block the Paseo de la Castellana, one of the city’s main avenues, as police escorted the demonstration by cars, a helicopter and officers on foot. Protesters chanted insults targeted at Uber and chased taxis that weren’t taking part in the rally. 
   
   In Berlin, more than 500 taxis lined up in columns of 20 in the plaza stretching out from the Olympic stadium. Four youth chanting “friends of Uber” were escorted away by security under shouts of a few enraged drivers. 
   
   Berlin cabs earlier packed airports and the upscale Kurfuerstendamm shopping district. At the Tegel airport, one of the three starting locations for the Berlin demonstration, taxi driver Kubilay Sarikaya said this morning he was skeptical about the protests. While he’d been working since 3 a.m., he said he’ll go along if his friends do. 
   
   “While we are demonstrating, the other guys are hauling people around,” said Sarikaya, 33. “There have to be other ways. Ultimately I think folks know that they can always count on the good old cab to get them where they need to be.” 
   
   Berlin, Milan 
   
   In Milan, no taxi was to be seen after about 5,000 drivers this morning went on a strike that is set to last until 10 p.m. 
   
   Uber took the demonstrations as an opportunity to promote its service, saying in a statement its teams across Europe will keep the cities moving today. 
   
   “While the taxi protests may seek to bring Europe to a standstill, we’ll be on hand to get our riders from A to B.” 
   
   Uber also chose this morning to open its service in London to black-cab drivers, describing its 5 percent commission as the lowest of all booking systems in the city. Uber has thus far offered luxury cars and cheaper rides in London, while excluding licensed black cabs. Later in the day, Uber said signups in London to its service today were 850 percent higher than last Wednesday, declining to give the actual number. 
   
   Internet Backlash 
   
   The protests have a deeper significance beyond the taxi industry. They underscore the growing backlash against the likes of room-booking service Airbnb Inc. and video-streaming provider Aereo Inc. as they clash with traditional industries arguing the competitors should be subject to the same regulations. 
   
   “European cities have tended to regulate taxi drivers much more than the U.S.,” said Charles Lichfield, an analyst at Eurasia Group in London. “I do think the protests have a better chance of succeeding.” 
   
   In the U.S., local taxi groups have also lobbied against Uber and similar services in cities such as Seattle. In Europe, regulators and courts are struggling with the disconnect between the desire to protect a regulated industry and the need for more technological innovation. 
   
   “For years the government has slapped new fees onto taxis and imposed more constraints -- everything from car colors to, now, GPS tracking,” FNAT’s Annet said. “The least we’re asking for is that our competitors get the same tough love.” 
   
   French Court 
   
   Following complaints by Paris cab drivers, France this year imposed a rule on private services, requiring a minimum 15-minute wait between the time a car is booked and the passenger is picked up. The decree was later struck down by the country’s constitutional court. 
   
   Hamburg’s economy ministry on June 6 issued an order preventing Wundercar, a German peer of Uber, from operating in the city, saying that transporting people for profit and without a license is against the law. Berlin administrators are probing a similar move against Uber, spokeswoman Petra Rohland said. A Berlin court banned the Uber Black chauffeur service in April, although the injunction hasn’t been enforced. 
   
   The Spanish region of Catalonia said yesterday it will ask Uber -- which is available in Barcelona -- to immediately stop its activities in the area. The regional government is also telling security forces to increase control and detection of illegal taxi services. 
   
   European Regulation 
   
   “Consumers want to have these services. I’ve personally never sat in a run-down Uber car, but I’ve definitely experienced a lot of run-down taxis,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, head of automotive research at ISI Group in London. “It is a bit scary how protectionist Europe can be.” 
   
   Uber raised $1.2 billion in new financing led by Fidelity Investments last week, valuing the company at about $17 billion, before added investments. The company had earlier raised $307.5 million from investors including Google Ventures, TPG Capital and Menlo Ventures. 
   
   The company’s assets may be worth just $5.9 billion, Aswath Damodaran, a finance professor at New York University, wrote on his blog this week. He said the figure was based on optimistic assumptions about the taxi industry’s growth and Uber’s market share and profitability. 
   
   Lower Prices 
   
   Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick -- who started Uber in 2009 after he and partner Garrett Camp couldn’t find a cab in Paris -- has pushed the company into 37 countries. He said the low prices and ease of use that their drivers can offer will lead to a base of support from consumers that regulators won’t be able to ignore. 
   
   A typical journey from Finsbury Square, near London’s financial district, and Paddington Station takes between 20 and 30 minutes by car to travel approximately four miles. Uber estimates that that journey would cost between 14 pounds ($24) and 16 pounds. London’s transportation authority estimates that the trip could cost between 15 pounds and 22 pounds. 
   
   The German market for taxis and rental cars was 4.3 billion euros last year, said Michael Mueller, the president of the German Association of Taxis and Rental Cars. It would shrink by 1 billion euros at the price levels Uber advocates, he said. 
   
   Job Creation 
   
   Uber said in its blog it’s responsible for 20,000 new jobs per month. The median income for drivers using the UberX platform, Uber’s low-cost service, is $90,000 per year in New York and more than $74,000 in San Francisco, the company said. 
   
   Uber advertises itself to prospective drivers as a way to start your own business, drawing users who aren’t professional chauffeurs. That’s different from apps such as Hailo, which recruit from the industry. Uber customers can tap the app on their smartphone and see the locations of taxis in real time, pay via a stored credit card and rate their driver. 
   
   “Citizens of these cities are getting around the cities much more cheaply,” Kalanick told Bloomberg TV in an interview this week. “How does a regulator or city official take that away from the population? Say that inexpensive transportation that’s high quality, you shouldn’t have?” 
   
   To contact the reporters on this story: Amy Thomson in London at athomson6@bloomberg.net; Cornelius Rahn in Berlin at crahn2@bloomberg.net; Angelina Rascouet in London at arascouet1@bloomberg.net 
   
   To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net Ville Heiskanen, Mark Beech ||||| Transportation app Uber is seen on the iPhone of limousine driver Shuki Zanna, 49, in Beverly Hills, California, December 19, 2013. 
   
   A taxi driver listens to speeches by his colleagues, during a Europe-wide protest of licensed taxi drivers denouncing taxi hailing apps that are feared to flush unregulated private drivers into the market, in front of the Olympic stadium in Berlin, June 11, 2014. 
   
   LONDON/PARIS Taxi drivers sowed traffic chaos in Europe's top cities on Wednesday by mounting one of the biggest ever protests against Uber, a U.S. car service which allows people to summon rides at the touch of a button. 
   
   Drivers of hundreds of London's black taxis snarled traffic in the streets around Trafalgar Square, hooting their horns as they passed Downing Street, the home of Prime Minister David Cameron, and the Houses of Parliament. 
   
   In Paris, taxi drivers slowed traffic on major arteries into the city centre during the morning commute. In Berlin hundreds choked the main road to the city's historic centre while commuters juggled buses and trains, or simply walked, to get to work in Madrid and Barcelona. 
   
   San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc., valued last week at $18.2 billion just four years since its 2010 launch, has touched a raw nerve by bringing home the threat of technological advances to one of the world's most visible trades. 
   
   "This about an all out assault on our profession, our livelihoods," said Max Small, a driver of one of London's black taxis for 34 years. "These big companies are coming in, not playing by the rules." 
   
   Taxi drivers across Europe level a variety of charges against Uber: that its applications break local taxi rules; that its drivers fail to comply with local insurance rules; and that it is therefore in breach of licensing and safety regulations. 
   
   Uber, backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs and Google, refute all those allegations, a spokeswoman said. Uber said it, its applications and its drivers comply with local regulations. 
   
   "What you are seeing today is an industry that has not faced competition for decades. Now finally we are seeing competition from companies such as Uber which is bringing choice to customers," said Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber Regional General Manager for Europe. 
   
   "Across a number of different countries the taxi industry is very similar - an industry which is highly regulated and arranged in a way that is not pro-consumer but just promotes protectionism." 
   
   UBER 
   
   Uber has expanded rapidly since it was founded by two U.S. technology entrepreneurs, Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp, and now operates in 128 cities across 37 countries. 
   
   Uber Chief Executive Officer Kalanick last week announced $1.2 billion in new funding, valuing the company at $18.2 billion, one of the highest valuations ever for a Silicon Valley startup. [ID:nL1N0ON1G6] But it has faced a series of hurdles from the beaches of Miami to the piazzas of Rome. Ordinances keep it out of cities such as Las Vegas and Miami while in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., Uber and similar companies have faced lawsuits from taxi companies hoping to keep the new competition out. 
   
   In London, the European Union's biggest city by population, police helicopters monitored the traffic snarl around the seat of the British government as mopeds and cyclists tried to navigate the chaos and crowds of bemused tourists looked on. 
   
   Uber says its fares are cheaper than black taxis in London. Other taxi drivers allege Uber's technology is effectively a taximeter and thus contravenes a 1998 British law reserving the right to use a meter for licensed black taxis. [ID:nL6N0OK2AA] 
   
   They say the city's transport regulator, Transport for London, is failing to enforce the rules. The regulator says its provisional view is that smart phone applications do not constitute a taximeter but has asked the High Court for a view. 
   
   After the disruptions, Uber hit back in Germany by emailing its clients offering a 50 percent discount on all shared rides for the duration of the day. In London the company offered new customers 20 pounds ($33.58) off their first journey. 
   
   In Spain, the Ministry of Public Works has warned that companies or individuals offering Uber-type services faced fines of up to 6,000 euros, while users could be fined up to 600 euros. The ministry has not specifically named Uber. 
   
   Neelie Kroes, the European Union commissioner in charge of digital and telecoms policy, said responding to companies like Uber with strikes was pointless. "We cannot address these challenges by ignoring them, by going on strike, or by trying to ban these innovations out of existence," she said in a blog published on Wednesday. 
   
   It was an argument that failed to sway taxi drivers around Europe, however. 
   
   "Yes this is chaos, its causing havoc in the very centre of London, but what other choice have we got?" said Ian Hay, a taxi driver with 14 years experience. 
   
   ($1 = 0.5956 British Pounds) 
   
   (Additional reporting by Sonya Dowsett and Paul Day in Madrid, Nicholas Vinocur in Paris, Robin Emmott in Brussels and Anja Nilsson in Berlin; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
target: – Today was a lousy one to be a tourist in Europe. Taxi cab drivers in Paris, London, Madrid, Berlin, Milan, and elsewhere clogged the streets in front of major attractions to protest what they see as unfair competition from the US ride-sharing service Uber, reports Bloomberg. Uber users can summon a taxi with their smartphones, and cabbies think drivers who participate should be subject to the same regulations they are—including pricey licenses. "This about an all-out assault on our profession, our livelihoods," a driver of one of London's "black taxis" tells Reuters. "These big companies are coming in, not playing by the rules." Uber has run into similar friction in various US cities, though nothing on the scale of today's coordinated protest in Europe. Executives for Uber, which last week announced $1.2 billion in new funding and a valuation of $18.2 billion, didn't seem fazed. "If anything, it's going to make Uber even more visible, and make a lot of people realize that they now have choices that they didn't have before," one tells the Wall Street Journal. (Of course, not all publicity is good publicity.)