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.

CBS2: Uber driver accused of assault still has TLC license

An Uber driver accused of touching a woman inappropriately still has his Taxi and Limousine Commission license, CBS2 has learned. The driver has been suspended by Uber, but he is still technically licensed and could be working elsewhere as a cabbie, CBS2 reported. That's a rule that the TLC says it is trying to change. 

Read more from CBS New York

Uber and Lyft face legal test to sharing economy

Patrick Cotter, who worked for social media titan Facebook, and Tadj Correia, a Santa Monica actor, are prototypical drivers for Uber and Lyft, moonlighting for the ridesharing services to boost their bank accounts. But scratch the surface, and both Cotter and Correia represent something else to a booming sector of the new tech economy -- a dark cloud over the very business model that has propelled a seemingly simple smartphone app service such as Uber into a Silicon Valley colossus now valued at more than $40 billion.

Read more from the San Jose Mercury News

Second Uber driver accused of inappropriate contact with female passenger, police say

A woman who used the ride-hailing service Uber told police her driver touched her inappropriately and sent her unwanted text messages - the second allegation of misconduct against one of the company's Madison drivers in as many days. The reports prompted local legislators to urge Gov. Scott Walker to veto a set of regulations for Uber and similar companies passed by the state Legislature earlier this month, saying they provide "minimal state oversight and no local oversight" of the ride-hailing app industry.

Read more from the Wisconsin State Journal

Uber drivers won't transport guide dogs, put one service animal in trunk, lawsuit alleges

When Leena Dawes requested an UberX sedan last September, she probably did not anticipate having any issues with the car service. Dawes, who is blind, had taken a seat in the car before realizing that the driver had forced her guide dog into the trunk. Before she reached her destination, she begged him to stop the car, to pull over so she could let the dog out, but he refused. 

Read more from Road Warrior Voices

Channel 2 investigates Uber drivers ticketed, impounded at Atlanta airport

There is a fight raging over how you get home from Atlanta's airport. A Channel 2 Action News investigation found Atlanta police ticketing and impounding rideshare driver's vehicles. City officials and police said drivers are violating a ground transportation ordinance that refers to limousines.  "They know they aren't supposed to do this and this has been going on for a while," Atlanta City Councilwoman Felicia Moore explained to investigative reporter Erica Byfield. 

Read more from WSB-TV Atlanta

Gay Uber drivers in Oklahoma will be able to kick straight people out of their cars

The Oklahoma Senate passed the "Oklahoma Transportation Network Company Services Act" that removed protection for passengers based on sexual orientation. That will allow LGBT Uber drivers in the state to protect themselves from having to drive straight people to their destinations or take their money. 

Read more from the Dallas Voice

Chinese police raid Uber offices in crackdown

Police in southern China raided the office of U.S. car-hailing app Uber after the Chinese government in January banned drivers of private cars from offering such services through apps. A statement by the Guangzhou Municipal Transport Commission said police suspected Uber was operating an illegal taxi service without a proper business registration.  

Read more from The Associated Press

Concerns over Uber's safety grow with its popularity

As Uber's popularity grows, so do concerns over the driving service's safety measures. Uber is like a high-tech taxi: Users order an Uber with the mobile app and a driver, in their personal car, comes to pick up. It's touted as safe because no money changes hands. The charge goes right through a credit card to Uber - not the person who provided the ride. 

Read more from Fox19 Cincinnati

Uber driver whose face was slashed sues seeking workers comp coverage

A San Francisco janitor who had his face slashed by a passenger while working a nightshift as an UberX driver has filed a lawsuit seeking workers compensation insurance coverage from Uber Technologies, the ride hailing platform that classifies its drivers as independent contractors. The lawsuit, which was filed by Abdo Ghazi in San Francisco Superior Court on April 28, is seeking class action status as well as an injunction, damages and penalties against Uber, which declined to comment.

Read more from the San Francisco Business Times

Uber driver allegedly assaults and robs passengers

An Uber driver who offered to take a passenger in San Francisco to a place where he could obtain narcotics and prostitutes allegedly chased down and violently robbed the passenger after he refused, a police spokesman said. The 30-year-old victim told police he was in the city's Marina District at a bar on Chestnut Street around 1 a.m. Saturday when he decided to go home and requested an Uber ride via the ride-booking service's app on his cellphone, according to San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza.

Read more from KTTV Fox Los Angeles 

Uber: "We cannot operate'' under new Broward law

Broward County commissioners passed a sweeping new law regulating app-based ride services such as Uber, despite the company's threat to leave town if they did. The new regulations legalize services including Uber and Lyft, whose drivers use their personal vehicles. But the law left intact tough provisions that Uber said would make it impossible to operate in Broward. 

Read more from the Sun-Sentinel