Don’t have a car, but want to work for Lyft or Uber as a driver? Hertz is hoping it can squeeze some extra miles out of its older cars with new deals it’s just announced to supply rentals to the ride-hailing companies. [More]
ride-hailing apps
Uber Will Start Tracking Driver Behavior Through Its App
By 6.29.16
The next time your Uber driver takes a turn too fast or slams the brakes at the last second, Uber will know. The company says driver behavior will start to be tracked through its app soon. [More]
Uber Switching To Upfront Pricing Model, Ditching Surge Icon (While Keeping Surge Prices)
By 6.24.16
While Uber is changing its app to make it easier for customers to see what they’ll pay for a ride upfront, the new version will make it harder to know when “surge pricing” has taken hold. [More]
How Much Do Uber Drivers Actually Earn? $13.25 An Hour Before 2016 Fare Cuts
By 6.23.16
Minimum wage laws don’t apply to drivers for ride-hailing apps. Since they’re independent contractors and must cover all of their vehicle expenses themselves, it’s difficult to figure out how much a driver makes at a glance without knowing what their expenses are. However, it turns out that Uber ran these numbers before a recent price cut, and provided raw data to Buzzfeed after the company’s calculations were leaked. [More]
Former Uber And Lyft Drivers In Austin Sue Over Abrupt Pullout
By 6.10.16
In Austin, TX last month, city voters approved a ballot measure that would require drivers for ride-hailing apps to pass city background checks and be fingerprinted. Both companies immediately pulled out of the city, suddenly leaving thousands of workers, many of whom were driving for their full-time jobs, out of work. Now drivers are suing the companies, alleging that they were owed notice under the WARN Act. [More]
Uber’s Head Of Global Customer Support Steps Down
By 6.7.16
After hopping over to Uber from Amazon in January 2015, the head of the ride-sharing company’s global customer support operations, Tim Collins, is returning from whence he came: he’s stepped down from his job at Uber and is reportedly going back to Amazon. [More]
Uber Rolling Out Guaranteed Arrival Times For UberPool
By 6.7.16
In its latest effort to get more people to use its carpooling service UberPool, Uber is introducing guaranteed arrival times, so passengers won’t have to worry about being late, even if they’re picked up first and dropped off last. [More]
Uber Adds Tools To App For Drivers, Doesn’t Add Higher Pay Or In-App Tips
By 6.6.16
What drivers for ride-hailing apps really want is to make more money. They’d like higher fares, or for passengers to have the ability to tip them from inside the app: really, either of those would be great. Instead, drivers for Uber are getting a suite of handy features, like being able to pick up passengers traveling in the same direction as they want to end up. Not higher fares, though. [More]
Uber Nudging Users Toward Carpooling With Test Of “Upfront Pricing” Feature
By 5.27.16
In some cities, Uber customers can choose to get a ride with UberPool, which allows users to share a car with strangers who are traveling along (or close to) their route. It looks like the ride-hailing company is trying to nudge folks toward selecting that option, with a new test of an “upfront pricing” feature that displays prices for both UberPool and the more expensive option, UberX. [More]
Today In Automakers Befriending Ride-Sharing Apps: Toyota Investing In Uber, VW Teaming Up With Gett
By 5.25.16
What’s an automaker to do when it wants to get into the ride-sharing game, and make some money off people who might not ever buy a car but will definitely ride in one, without starting from scratch? Grab a buddy, of course: Toyota is plunking money into Uber and Volkwswagen says it’s teaming up with Gett. [More]
9 Things We Learned About How Few Americans Are Regularly Taking Part In The “Sharing Economy”
By 5.19.16
Though it might feel like you can turn a corner without seeing an ad for this ride-hailing app or that on-demand delivery service, Pew Research Center’s first-ever survey of how American adults interact with the new digital economy shows there’s a big difference between how many people have ever tried one of these services and the people who use them on a regular basis. [More]
Lyft Agrees To $27 Million Settlement To Keep Drivers As Independent Contractors
By 5.12.16
Last month, the judge rejected a proposed settlement in a class action against ride-hailing app Lyft, saying that the $12.25 million offer was too low and didn’t account for business expansion in California since the original class action was filed. The company has now agreed on a revised settlement, pending the judge’s approval. [More]
Group That Is Totally Not A Union Can Represent New York City’s Uber Drivers
By 5.10.16
The people who drive for Uber in New York City are independent contractors and not employees of the ride-hailing service, at least according to current laws. Drivers know that, but want a union-like group that would advocate for workers’ concerns with the company, even if it doesn’t engage in collective bargaining to set fares. Uber has agreed to work with a non-union, the Independent Drivers Guild, which will meet with the company and help drivers appeal when they’re “deactivated,” or fired. [More]
Court: Uber Would Owe Drivers $852 Million More As Tipped Employees
By 5.10.16
How much is at stake in the choice of ride-hailing services Uber and Lyft to keep their drivers as independent contractors instead of making them employees? To understand why the car-summoning app is glad to pay drivers as much as $100 million in a class action settlement, look at the numbers: the company calculates that it would owe drivers $429 million, while drivers’ attorneys estimate that drivers would receive $730 million in expenses, and $122 million in tips. [More]
Uber, Lyft Suspend Service In Austin Over Rules Requiring Drivers’ Fingerprints
By 5.9.16
If you’re looking for a ride in Austin you’ll have one less option starting today, after Uber and Lyft suspended operations there over city requirements that include fingerprint-based background checks for all drivers. [More]
Judge Rejects Proposed Settlement In Lyft Class Action
By 4.8.16
To settle a class action filed by their drivers in California, ride-hailing service Lyft and the drivers’ attorney agreed to a settlement back in January. One flaw with the settlement was that it had been negotiated based on the company’s roster of drivers in June 2015, right before Lyft expanded significantly, including in California. The judge now won’t approve that figure, declaring it to be too low. [More]
Uber Ditching Email Support In Favor Of In-App Help Options
By 3.30.16
Uber customers and drivers will no longer be able to reach the company by way of a support email address — a system many customers were frustrated with in the first place — as the company is switching to an in-app tool for troubleshooting and reporting issues. [More]
Police: Lyft Driver Drove Drunk With Passenger In The Car
By 3.15.16
When you’ve had a bit too much to drink to get behind the wheel, you might get a cab or have Uber or Lyft pick you up. But police in Austin say one Lyft driver could’ve used a ride himself, after arresting him for allegedly driving while drunk with a passenger in his back seat. [More]
