NewsWatch
Keeping a critical eye on Uber,
Lyft, Sidecar, et al
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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.
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Former Uber driver pleads guilty to rape, assault charges
A former Uber driver accused of kidnapping and raping a woman waiting for a ride in Cambridge has pleaded guilty to the charges and will spent at least 10 years in prison. Alejandro Done, 47, of Boston, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated rape, kidnapping and assault and battery, the Middlesex DA's office said.
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San Francisco woman claims Uber driver threatened her with rape, death
A San Francisco woman says requesting a ride turned into a terrifying experience when her driver threatened to rape and kill her. Uber has deactivated the driver's account, but police don't know who the driver is and have not been able to make an arrest. Eve Batey had just wrapped up dinner with colleagues Thursday night when she summoned an Uber to take her home.
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My Uber driver touched me, says Texas woman
An 18-year-old Texas woman told authorities that her Uber driver took her to his apartment against her will and touched her inappropriately. The Uber driver has been arrested. The driver, 55-year-old Michael Olu-Wehuje was picked up by Travis County deputies and the alleged victim is speaking out to local media.
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Uber publicly resists fingerprinting but is quietly testing it on some drivers
Ride-hailing service Uber has always opposed fingerprinting its hundreds of thousands of drivers during background checks. But behind closed doors, Uber is exploring fingerprinting with Live Scan, the process it often criticizes for having flaws and one that is required of many taxi companies.
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Insurance issues blur in Uber 'gig economy'
Lucas Root says he doesn't remember seeing the door that opened up in front of his bike, knocking him to the pavement and breaking out three teeth. But when he learned that the driver was working for Uber, the app-based ride-hailing service, he saw an insurance nightmare ahead. Root had worked briefly for an on-demand bicycle delivery service whose couriers use their own bicycles, so he knew that the so-called "gig economy" tends to muddy issues of labor rules and who's responsible when things go wrong.
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So how much is Uber really worth?
A latest round of funding puts a $51 billion price tag on Uber, but a famed valuation professor said it is actually worth a lot less than that. Aswath Damodaran, professor at NYU Stern School of Business and a valuation expert, values the ride-hailing company at $23.4 billion, less than half its current sticker.
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A clash of conveniences: Uber's 'deactivation' of drivers
Traveling to and from Israel to take care of his cancer-stricken dad caused Ari Gottlieb to leave a full-time job in sales. As a result, the 37-year-old Los Angeles resident sought "on-demand" employment as an Uber ride-share driver in March 2013. Gottlieb told Capital & Main by phone that he provided nearly 3,000 rides to Uber customers before the company permanently "deactivated" (e.g., fired) him in August 2014.
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The Uber effect? Boston's cabbies are defaulting on their medallion loans
The situation for Boston cabbies is getting worse as ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft increase in popularity. Banks are starting to foreclose on delinquent loans for taxi medallions, reports CommonWealth magazine. The last four medallions sold in Boston went through auction after owners were unable to earn enough to pay their loan, according to data from the Hackney Carriage Unit of the Boston Police Department.
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Drivers' licenses and Social Security numbers were leaked online by Uber
Uber says it fixed the data leak within 30 minutes of being alerted, but it still affected about 674 U.S. drivers. Uber released a new mobile app for its drivers and also exposed some of their information accidentally. According to a report from Motherboard, an Uber driver spotted the bug while uploading a document on Tuesday to the driver web portal.
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Labor Bureau clarifies Uber drivers' employee status
In Oregon, drivers for the San Francisco-based "ridesharing" service Uber are employees - not independent contractors. That's according to the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which released an advisory opinion on the matter. Uber is disagreeing with the conclusion of the opinion.
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| | Digital Hitchhiking: Think Before You App from Ride Responsibly |
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