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AFT is an ad hoc group of regulated transportation service companies dedicated to informing and educating the public on threats to public safety from new so-called ride-sharing or ride-booking services such as Uber, Lyft and Sidecar.

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BPD issues alert following 3 assaults involving ride-sharing services

Police have issued a late-night alert in Boston following three separate sexual assaults involving women who hired ride-sharing services. The first happened around 1 a.m. Sunday, when a woman said she got into a vehicle near Columbia Road and Dorchester Avenue, assuming it was the car she had hired to come get her. Instead, the woman says the driver offered her money and touched her inappropriately. 

Read more from Fox 25 Boston

When it's time to flee, Uber raises its rates

The hip compliment for a startup company is to call it "disruptive." If that's the case, the San Francisco ride service Uber has nailed it. Uber is definitely disruptive. Also infuriating, polarizing and confusing. On Monday, a gunman took hostages in downtown Sydney, and people were frantic to get out of danger. But when they tapped their Uber phone app, they were told that because of high demand, the fare had been increased to four times the usual rate. 

Read more from San Francisco Chronicle

Distracted driving and the risks of ride-hailing services like Uber

It Can Wait. The buzz phrase, popularized by AT&T in a public service campaign, urges drivers to show restraint with their phones. But a growing number of drivers who make their living behind the wheel can't wait. These are the drivers for Uber and its competitors, including taxi services, who, to make money, must respond nearly instantly to their smartphones, without regard to road conditions or safety.

Read more from The New York Times

After a spate of bad press for Uber, some turn back to traditional taxicabs

Meet the Uber haters. The renegade taxi service has been a worldwide punching bag all year - thanks to prices that become astronomical during peak times, a company official who suggested investigating reporters, drivers who have sexually harassed and allegedly raped customers, and claims of bizarre routes meant to jack up prices - and more and more New Yorkers are hitting delete.

Read more from the New York Daily News

Rideshare drivers still cornered into insurance secrecy

In the last year, car-service app startups Uber and Lyft have made major progress toward fixing their drivers' insurance issues, gradually taking more responsibility for accidents that happen to on-duty drivers. But one sticky problem persists: drivers often lie to their personal insurance about their work, which can lead to confusion and, in some extreme cases, insurance fraud. Drivers hear constant mixed messages about proper insurance. 

Read more from Forbes

Uber pressures regulators by mobilizing riders and hiring vast lobbying network

On a Thursday in June, bureaucrats from Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles made their move against Uber Technologies. The fast-growing ride-for-hire company was told that its popular service was, in fact, illegal and that the firm needed to immediately cease all operations in the state. Far from being intimidated, Uber was ready to fight back. The company immediately called on one of its most potent weapons: its ­ever-growing list of smartphone-wielding customers. 

Read more from The Washington Post

Uber and Lyft's bitter battle for Tampa

The company's move to Tampa, Florida, for example, began the way most of Uber's expansion into new cities do. Uber began operating illegally, which led to driver citations. Uber continued to operate, and the city attempted to negotiate with the company. Since Uber X and Lyft launched in Tampa in April, the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission has been attempting to work out a deal with the companies to no avail, PTC Executive Director Kyle Cockream told BuzzFeed News. 

Read more from Buzzfeed News

Opinion Uber alles: The cold-hearted capitalism behind ride-sharing

Amid the panic and confusion surrounding the recent hostage-taking in Sydney, Uber -- the hipster taxi service that insists it's not a taxi service -- did the unconscionable: It raised the price of getting a lift out of the danger zone. But it didn't just raise the price. Uber's automatic "surge pricing" model gouged the panic-stricken to the tune of more than $100 ride, a quadrupling of the regular rate. 

Read more from the Los Angeles Times

Uber probes driver for allegedly trying to kiss singer Nikki Williams

Uber said Saturday that it "deactivated" one of the ride-sharing service's drivers after singer-songwriter Nikki Williams reported him for allegedly trying to kiss her. Williams tweeted early Saturday that the driver "tried to grab and kiss on me" in her driveway, but she "fought him off and ran inside." Uber said in a statement that it's opened an investigation into the incident.

Read more from CBS News

France to ban Uber's ride-hailing service in 2015

Uber's low-cost ride-hailing service will be banned in France next year, the government said Monday as hundreds of taxi drivers blocked roads around Paris to protest what they say are its unfair business practices.A new law tightening regulations for chauffeured rides will in effect ban the UberPop service as of Jan. 1, said Pierre-Henry Brandet, spokesman for France's Interior Ministry.

Read more from the Associated Press