Ride service Uber, which enables users to instantly hail a taxi ride using their smartphone, will allow customers to book trips days or weeks in advance in London, the first European city to get the option.
让用户通过智能手机就能立刻打到车的打车服务商优步，将允许伦敦的乘客提前几天或几周预定出租车。这样一来，伦敦成为了第一个可以有这样选择的欧洲城市。
Uber began offering scheduled rides in June in Seattle, targeted particularly at business customers.
今年六月份，优步公司首先在西雅图提供了预定租车服务，这是专门针对商业用户提供的服务。
Advance booking will be introduced from Thursday and available within two weeks to all two million Uber users in London, who will be able to book journeys from 15 minutes to 30 days before they travel.
预约叫车服务将在周四开始启动，并且伦敦的200万优步用户在两周内都可以预定。这些用户可以在他们出行之前，在至少15分钟，最多可达30天内预约出租车。

"Many of our riders, especially business customers, have asked us to introduce this feature and we're really excited to bring it to Londoners," the firm's London General Manager Tom Elvidge said.
优步公司伦敦总经理汤姆·埃尔维奇表示：“我们的很多用户，特别是商业用户，已经要求我们提供这样的服务。我们真的很高兴将预约叫车服务带到伦敦，”
Rapidly expanding tech start-ups such as Uber have faced opposition from some unions and longer-established competitors around the world, including in London where drivers of traditional black cabs have held a series of protests.
像优步公司这样迅速扩张的技术公司，都将面对来自全世界很多协会和成立较久的竞争者们的反对，其中就包括开着传统的黑色出租车的驾驶员们举行了一系列的抗议活动。
Allowing advance bookings would allow Uber to further compete with established cab firms and some other apps.
允许提前预约叫车服务就是允许优步公司进一步与既有的出租车公司和一些其他应用软件竞争。
Uber recently launched legal action in London against new rules such as written English tests for its drivers in one of the latest battles between regulators and the app.
在最近的一次管理者与优步公司应用软件之间的争议中，优步公司采取了法律行动来抵制包括对租车司机进行英语书面语的测试等在内的新规则。