Welcome to the latest edition of AFT NewsWatch, a weekly service of Advocates for Fairness in Transportation, 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. Visit the Archive to read previous editions.

Uber user charged $500 for 30-mile ride after attending Rodeo

A Houston-area woman is outraged after she said the popular car service Uber over-charged her for a ride. Patricia Clark said she and her friends decided to use uber to get to the Houston Rodeo BBQ Cook-Off. According to Clark, the service charged them about $60 for the ride to the event but more than $500 for the ride back to Humble. "Nobody in their right mind would step into a car knowing that it was going to cost them $500 to go 30 miles," said Clark.

Read more from NBC2 Houston

Uber driver used fake plates, Park Ridge police say

A Montvale man used fake Arizona plates while working as an Uber driver, police say. A local business tipped off Park Ridge Police, Chief Joseph Madden said. Police learned that Burak Karabel, 38, was using the fake plates and registrations at the business, Madden said. The business contacted police when Karabel showed up. Officer Gerald Powers stopped Karabel's 2010 BMW on Kinderkamack Road. 

Read more from NJ Advance Media

Uber ordered to halt ride-sharing pilot program in Japan

Japan's transport ministry ordered Uber Technologies Inc. to stop a ride-sharing pilot program in southern Fukuoka city, deepening the regulatory challenges the startup company faces globally. The San Francisco-based company was told to stop the trial operation of Everyone's Uber, a program that allows users in Fukuoka to share rides, as soon as possible because it violates the nation's road transportation law, ministry official Hidetaka Sakai said by phone Wednesday. 

Read more from Bloomberg Business

In major goof, Uber stored sensitive database key on public GitHub page

Uber is trying to force GitHub to disclose the IP address of every person that accessed a webpage connected to a database intrusion that exposed sensitive personal data for 50,000 drivers. The court action revealed that a security key unlocking the database was stored on a publicly accessible place, the online equivalent of stashing a house key under a doormat. 

Uber officials have yet to say precisely what information was contained in the two now-unavailable GitHub gists.

Read more from Ars Technica

Uber decides to refund fee for woman who says she was hit with $100 'bodily fluid' charge

Uber says the company has decided to refund a cleaning fee for a woman who was hit with a $100 charge after utilizing the service. Annie Pho told CBS2's Amy Johnson she used Uber to travel to her friend's West Hollywood home as she didn't want to walk 1 mile when much of the region was getting hit by a storm. "I honestly think that it's more of a scam than anything," Pho said.

Read more from CBS2 Los Angeles

Is Lyft luring new drivers with a bait-and-switch bonus offer?

In an email to drivers, Lyft said it saw the "biggest wave" of driver applications in its history after it offered a $1,000 bonus for signing up or referring another driver last week. Drivers were told that they had to apply by March 3. But in the same email, the company said drivers whose background and DMV checks don't process by March 5, even if they applied well before the deadline, might not qualify for the promotion. And drivers are upset.

Read more from Buzzfeed

National Uber safety concerns echoed in the Athens community

On any given weekend around midnight, the roads of downtown Athens (Ga.) are swarming with taxi cabs transporting patrons back home. And as of Aug. 28, the ridesharing service Uber was added to the list of transportation options for students. But recently, there have been increased concerns for safety using Uber as stories of costly accidents, sexual assault and kidnappings have circulated. 

Read more from The Red and Black

A disgruntled driver made the fake UberSex app

Earlier we reported on a fake app called UberSex that would purportedly connect lonely-hearted singles with Uber drivers. The video was clearly a joke, but the motivation was still in question. Why would someone create it? Now we know. UberSex is the handiwork of one Jantzn May, an Uber and Lyft driver based in the Los Angeles area, who is displeased with the low pay he earns working for the two companies. 

Read more from The Daily Dot