There’s a new self-driving car on the block, and it’s currently roaming the streets of Pittsburgh. Uber’s first autonomous vehicle, a hybrid Ford Fusion outfitted with sensors, radars, laser scanners, and high-resolution cameras, is on the road. [More]
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Uber Allows Users To Track Other Riders’ Trips In Family Profiles
By 5.18.16
After years of turning a blind eye to Uber users who broke the company’s rules by hailing rides for people other than themselves, Uber recently introduced the “Family Profile” option to allow multiple riders to share the same account. Now the company is letting people in the same “Family” track each other’s rides. [More]
Named Plaintiff In Uber Class Action Objects To $100M Settlement
By 5.16.16
What you often see referred to in the news as “the Uber class action lawsuit” has a name: it’s called O’Connor et al v. Uber Technologies, Inc. et al. However, now that there’s a proposed settlement in the case, Douglas O’Connor, the first named plaintiff, filed a declaration in court that he objects to the proposed settlement and has hired new lawyers. [More]
Atlanta Puts Airport’s Ride-Share Proposal On Hold For The Moment
By 5.11.16
If you’re looking to hail a ride at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson airport any time soon, you won’t be hopping in an Uber quite yet: after seeing how Newark Liberty International Airport deals with ride-sharing companies, city officials are hitting pause on proposed rules that required drivers to submit to fingerprint-based background checks. [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: Uber Drivers Aren’t Employees, But Passengers Can Still Sue In Sexual Assault Case
By 5.6.16
Two passengers in different states who were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers are suing the company, and the judge in this case just made an important ruling: drivers’ status as independent contractors rather than employees doesn’t mean that the company can’t be sued for sexual assaults that drivers commit against their passengers. [More]
Is The “Sharing Economy” Sharing Your Data With Law Enforcement?
By 5.5.16
Airbnb and VRBO are shaking up the hospitality industry by letting anyone with a spare room become an innkeeper. Uber and Lyft are disrupting the for-hire car market by letting you turn your car into a taxi. While these new platforms might be opening up the so-called “sharing” economy, some of them may also be a bit too willing to share user data with law enforcement. [More]
GM & Lyft Set To Test Self-Driving Taxis Within A Year
By 5.5.16
It hasn’t taken General Motors long to figure out how to spend its $500 million investment in Lyft. A month after the carmaker said it would use some of those funds to rent SUVs to prospective drivers, the partners unveiled plans to begin testing self-driving taxis on public roads in California. [More]
Apple’s App Store Is Having Some Serious Issues Finding Popular Apps Right Now
By 5.5.16
UPDATE: As of about noon on the east coast, the App Store seems to have sorted itself out. I was able to search for Tidal and actually get the music app, instead of an app to track the tide. [More]
Uber, Blind Passengers Reach Settlement In Lawsuit Over Service Animals
By 5.2.16
More than a year after the National Federation of the Blind of California filed a lawsuit accusing Uber drivers of discriminating against passengers waiting for rides with service animals, the two sides announced they’ve reached a settlement. [More]
You Now Might Have To Pay Extra If You Keep Your Uber Waiting
By 4.27.16
Just like you might get annoyed when you have to wait too long for your Uber driver, that driver might be losing money for all the time you dawdle inside because you weren’t ready to be picked up. That’s why the service is testing a new policy that allows drivers to tack on a fee if a passenger keeps them waiting for more than two minutes. [More]
Uber Drivers Are Independent Contractors, Will Receive Up To $100M In Settlement
By 4.22.16
For the better part of three years, Uber drivers have sparred with the ride-sharing company over the status of their employment: are they independent contractor or actual employees? Today, Uber has agreed to settle two lawsuits over the issue, paying up to $100 million to the drivers who will remain independent contractors. [More]
California Regulators Might Stop Lyft And Uber Driver Car-Rental Programs
By 4.21.16
Drivers for ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft need relatively new cars, so a program where drivers lease new General Motors vehicles for $99 per week seemed like a good match. It’s being tested in Chicago now, and the companies plan to expand the program. They won’t be expanding it to California, though: regulators there will vote today on a proposal that specifically bans such programs in the state. [More]
Uber Fined $11.4 Million For Operating Without Proper Authority
By 4.21.16
When Uber launched its Pennsylvania operations in 2014, it did so without approval of the state regulatory agency that oversees most taxi services. Two years later, the ridesharing service is being hit with a $11.365 million civil penalty by the state. [More]
Lyft Raised The Cap On ‘Prime Time’ Price Hikes, Forgot To Tell Customers
By 4.20.16
One of the key innovations of ride-hailing apps has been that their pricing is sensitive to demand: that is, prices go up as there are more customers demanding rides. Uber calls this surge pricing, whcih is such strong branding that people have started to call similar demand-sensitive pricing programs at other companies by the same term. Lyft calls it Prime Time, and did away with previously-announced caps on price hikes in February, but forgot to notify passengers. [More]
San Francisco Requiring Uber, Lyft Drivers To Get Business Licenses
By 4.15.16
Though you might think of Uber and Lyft drivers as employees of those ridesharing services, the companies maintain that drivers are independent contractors who simply use the Uber or Lyft platforms to connect with passengers. That now means that several thousand of these independent operators in San Francisco must each obtain a business license.
[More]
