For many drivers, the best part of having your own car is that you don’t have to deal with anyone else — you can blast your music, sing at the top of your lungs, or eat a tuna sandwich, and there’s no one to judge you. But some younger drivers now may have a new reason to buy a car: To become a driver for Uber or Lyft. [More]
ride-hailing apps
Uber Brings In NASA Engineer To Make Flying Cars A Reality
By 2.7.17
If Uber ever wants to get its on-demand flying car service off the ground (pun definitely intended), it’s going to need some of the best brains in the business. That’s why the ride-hailing company is bringing in a NASA engineer with 30 years of experience at the agency to make the aerial service a reality. [More]
Ride-Hailing App Drivers Want To Put Ads Up If Taxis Can
By 2.2.17
If there are ads on the outside of taxis as well as on their insides, why can’t drivers for ride-hailing apps put up ads of their own? A company that provides an app that turns a driver’s tablet into a ride-hailing version of Taxi TV is suing the city of Chicago, which bans advertising in cars for ride-hailing app services. [More]
Uber Signs Deal To Add Mercedes-Benz Vehicles To Self-Driving Fleet
By 1.31.17
For its first generation of self-driving cars, Uber partnered with automakers Ford and Volvo, and used the driving technology that it has developed itself on cars that it now owns. The transportation network company has now made a deal with Daimler AG to add the company’s Mercedes-Benz autonomous vehicles to the Uber fleet once they’re ready. [More]
Why Your Social Media Feed May Be Filled With Pledges To #DeleteUber
By 1.30.17
Over the weekend and this morning, your social media feed may be filled with friends urging others to #DeleteUber and stop using the ride-hailing service. How does a popular app go from top of the heap to boycott target in just a few days? [More]
Lyft Planning To Launch Service In 100 New U.S. Cities By End Of Year
By 1.25.17
If you’re looking for a set of hired wheels to transport you around town, you may soon have another option: Lyft says it’s planning to add 100 more U.S. cities to its service. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Drunk Lyft Driver Caused Serious Car Crash
By 1.3.17
Having someone else drive when you’ve had a few too many alcoholic beverages is always important — but what if the person you hire to drive you is the one who’s drunk? Two Lyft passengers in California say their trip ended with a terrifying crash because their driver was intoxicated. [More]
Uber Passenger: Driver Stranded Her Halfway Through 150-Mile Trip Home From Hospital
By 12.28.16
An Arizona woman says she was left stranded at a gas station in the desert on Christmas when her Uber driver decided he didn’t want to continue the second half of the 150-mile trip. [More]
Philly Uber Customer Surprised By Attempted $28,639.14 Charge
By 12.20.16
You would probably remember taking a ride long enough to cost tens of thousands of dollars. So one Uber customer was more than a little surprised to find her bank flagging and blocking a $28,639.14 charge from the ride-hailing company. [More]
Uber Admits Its Self-Driving Cars Have A Problem Handling Bike Lanes
By 12.20.16
The rules of the road don’t just cover cars — there are conveyances of the two-wheeled variety out there as well. Considering many human drivers don’t understand how to share the streets with bicycles, it’s somewhat unsurprising that Uber is admitting that its autonomous vehicles are having a hard time dealing with them as well. [More]
Woman Drives To Uber HQ To Get Account Issue Resolved Instead Of Waiting For Emailed Responses
By 11.14.16
When you’ve got a problem that needs fixing and it’s not getting fixed fast enough, what’s an intrepid consumer to do? One woman who had an issue with her family’s Uber account was tired of waiting for customer service to email her back, so she hopped in her car and took a trip — actually, two trips — to visit Uber in person. [More]
Uber Driver Charged With Raping Unconscious Teenage Passenger
By 11.10.16
An Uber driver in Laguna Beach, CA has been arrested and charged with raping an unconscious 17-year-old passenger in the back seat of his car. [More]
Ride-Hailing Services Are Legal And Regulated In Philadelphia: Now What?
By 11.4.16
Ride-hailing apps, or transportation network companies (TNCs), have been in sort of a legal gray area in Philadelphia, but as of today, hailing a ride will be completely legal. Earlier today, the governor of Pennsylvania signed legislation that regulates the services. Like all laws, it’s imperfect, and stakeholders including taxi drivers and people with disabilities have complaints about it. [More]
New York State Grants Unemployment Benefits To Two Former Uber And Lyft Drivers
By 10.13.16
The decision to grant unemployment benefits to two former drivers for ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft is an interesting one, since it means that yet another government agency has concluded that “gig economy” workers were treated like employees and should be considered as such…at least for the purpose of getting some income while they aren’t driving. [More]
Uber Driver Accused Of Robbing, Assaulting Disabled Woman
By 8.31.16
It seems every week we’re reporting on ride-share drivers accused of mistreating the passengers they’re hired to take from point A to B, and this week is no different: an Uber driver in Massachusetts has been accused of stealing from an elderly disabled woman and assaulting her in the process. [More]
Uber Launching Self-Driving Ride-Share Vehicles In Pittsburgh This Month
By 8.18.16
The ride-sharing experience of the future is coming to Pittsburgh this month, when Uber will launch a fleet of autonomous cars — custom Volvo XC90s — that come with a human being to supervise in the driver’s seat. [More]
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Seattle’s Uber Drivers Union
By 8.10.16
Late last year, Seattle made it legal for drivers who work for ride-hailing services to organize in unions, even though this is technically against federal labor law. While that question still has to be resolved, and the law hasn’t actually gone into effect yet, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the city to suspend it. [More]
