Ride-hailing service Lyft is nudging its way into the world of self-driving cars, announcing today that it will soon be offering rides in autonomous vehicles to customers in the San Francisco Bay Area. [More]
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Family Says 5-Year-Old Dog Died In United Cargo Hold
By 8.8.17
United Airlines is facing blame for another pet death today after a family in Houston says that their 5-year-old King Charles spaniel died in the cargo hold of a flight from Houston to San Francisco. [More]
Teen Jumps From Emergency Exit Of Plane After Landing In San Francisco
By 8.2.17
That’s one illegal and dangerous way to exit a plane: A teenager flying from Panama City to San Francisco International Airport on Copa Airlines ditched the traditional deplaning method of waiting for others to exit through the front door and instead opened an over-wing emergency door, slid down the wing of the plane, and jumped to the tarmac. [More]
San Francisco Could Be First City To Ban Sale Of Flavored Liquid Nicotine
By 6.22.17
Last fall, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for a ban on flavored tobacco products. Now, one city is poised to do just that: San Francisco took steps this week to become the first city to approve a sales ban on flavored vaping liquids in a bid to prevent young adults from becoming addicted to the products. [More]
Airbnb, San Francisco Decide To Kiss And Make Up Over Rental Registrations
By 5.1.17
The legal fight between Airbnb and San Francisco over rental registrations in the city is over, now that the two sides have agreed to kiss and make up. [More]
Girl Scout Troop Challenges Pot Dispensary In The Name Of Charity
By 3.10.17
Remember a few years ago when Girl Scouts in San Francisco made headlines for the obviously brilliant move of selling cookies in front of a marijuana dispensary? They’re still allies, and this year, the girls threw down the gauntlet in a charity duel. [More]
San Francisco Suing Hertz For Allegedly Ripping Off Car Renters On Golden Gate Bridge
By 3.2.17 — Updated: 5.9.17
If you rent a car from Hertz in San Francisco, it’ll automatically pay the toll for crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. But the city says in a new lawsuit that the rental car company is gouging tourists by fraudulently charging them millions of dollars in extra fees. [More]
Some Uber Drivers Sleep In Their Cars So They Can Work In Expensive Cities
By 1.23.17
If you want to be successful at driving for Uber, Lyft or some similar service, it’s important to not only put in a lot of hours behind the wheel, but to do so in a city where you’re likely to also have a passenger in the backseat. Problem is, dense urban areas where residents have disposable income may be out of your price range. Some drivers are getting around this by spending their brief downtime sleeping in their cars. [More]
Uber Pulls Plug On Self-Driving Cars In San Francisco After State Revokes Registrations
By 12.21.16
Uber announced Wednesday evening that it has pulled the plug on its controversial self-driving car program in San Francisco after only one very contentious week of operation. [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]
Uber Claims It Doesn’t Need California’s Permission For Self-Driving Cars
By 12.16.16 — Updated: 12.20.16
The public slapfight between Uber and the California Department of Motor Vehicles continued on Friday afternoon, with the ridesharing service declaring that it’s new self-driving cars don’t need a special permit to operate in San Francisco. [More]
California Says Self-Driving Uber Cars In San Francisco “Illegal”
By 12.15.16
Yesterday, Uber announced that it is now offering rides in self-driving vehicles for users in San Francisco — an announcement that apparently came as a surprise to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, which has advised the ridesharing service that it is breaking the law by operating this autonomous cars without DMV approval. [More]
Hackers Breached San Francisco Transit System, Held It Hostage All Weekend
By 11.28.16
San Francisco residents bustling around this weekend to visit friends and knock out some holiday shopping were treated to an unexpected surprise: all rides on MUNI rail were free. It wasn’t due to a gesture of goodwill from the transit operator, though; it was because hackers had managed to lock out the fare system and were holding it hostage. [More]
Four Cities Approve Sugary-Drink Taxes
By 11.9.16
For residents in four U.S. cities, it’s about to get more expensive to buy soda or other sugary drinks after voters okayed new taxes on these beverages. [More]
Airbnb Removes San Francisco Hosts With Multiple Listings, Ignores Other City Rules
By 10.19.16
The short-term home rental company Airbnb would really prefer to ignore hosts’ local regulations, leaving compliance up to individuals instead of the platform. However, the company has made a key concession to its hometown of San Francisco, pulling listings from hosts with multiple residences off the site, which violate current laws in San Francisco. [More]
San Francisco Proposal Would Limit Residential Airbnb Rentals To 60 Days/Year
By 10.14.16
The relationship between Airbnb and its home city of San Francisco is complicated to say the least. the least. The two have repeatedly duked it out over regulations, taxes, and liability, and now the stage is set for yet another battle between the city and the home-sharing platform, as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors considers reducing the number of days people in the city can rent out their homes each year. [More]
Airbnb’s New Legal Strategy: Compliance With Local Laws Is Not Our Problem
By 10.6.16
When you buy a bootleg T-shirt on eBay or some phony concert tickets on StubHub, those businesses aren’t responsible: the seller is. What if that principle also applied to sharing economy businesses like Airbnb? That’s what the company is experimenting with, starting in its home city of San Francisco. [More]
Google Expands Waze Ride-Sharing Test To San Francisco
By 9.30.16
What’s that sound? It’s Google knocking on Uber and Lyft’s doors to tell them it’s come out to play: the technology giant is taking one step further into providing transportation by expanding its pilot ride-sharing program to San Francisco. [More]
