It’s the capital city, and yet right now, in London it’s a nightmare to get home after midnight.
The Night Tube is only partially back across two lines – and even then strike action threatens the regularity of those services – the night bus often comes with long waits and potential harassment for vulnerable people, and there’s a taxi shortage.
Along with strikes, TfL is up against funding shortages and staff shortages.
This means Uber prices – when you can actually get a car, that is – are surging.
Until the government steps up, individuals have been taking it upon themselves to temporarily fix the problem.
One of these fundraising initiatives has come from Home Safe, a London-based service (though it can be used all over England) that aims to help with Uber costs for people struggling to pay their fare.
Launching tonight, the organisation, set up by Match Montana, will cover £10 of an Uber bill.
If you don’t live along the Victoria or Central line, or outside a night bus route stop, your options are limited – something Match hopes to address.
Match has shared online his concerns for women’s safety in particular, along with his worries that not enough men are willing to talk about the issue.
He’s often calling on men, saying: ‘Lads it’s time to speak up!’
Women have long been sharing how unsafe they feel walking home at night, and how angry they are at the thought of spending more than is comfortable to get a cab home.
So what is Home Safe?
On Instagram, Match explained the service: ‘We want to get women, girls and anyone who needs us home safe. We are here to help those who can’t afford to get an Uber home.
‘Our mission is to alleviate the financial stress, which often is the main factor to why women and girls choose to take a less safe journey home.
‘Through donations we can help to refund the costs of Uber journeys for those who may not be able to afford them.’
This means you need to have the money to fork out for the journey initially, then get the £10 ‘refunded’ back to you.
Match said each week they will share how many journeys the platform helped to cover.
So far through donations, £5,493 has been raised to spend on Uber journeys.
While Match plans to raise enough to be able to contribute more to people’s journeys, so far he feels confident enough to go ahead at £10.
Replying to an Instagram comment about the service, he wrote: ‘With our service, we want to help as many people as we can.
‘We would love to be able to cover the full cost of the journey for everyone but we just don’t have the capacity to do so yet.
‘We think that £10 is a good amount that could in most cases cover the majority of the journey. By setting it at £10 we can then help more people.’
With more money, they plan to have phone operators who can book the Uber to be begin with.
At 8pm the service will go live with a Q&A to explain more about how claims can be made.
The simple act of getting home has become fraught for many, and is a symbol of our failings affecting vulnerable members of society.
Here’s hoping initiatives like Home Safe spark long-term change from official bodies.
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