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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Uber riders ring in the new year with surge pricing complaints
Just as champagne and kisses at midnight are tied with New Year's Eve, a newer year-end tradition has become complaining about sky-high Uber charges after the fog of the night before has worn off. This newer tradition continued online as ride share users from around the globe posted screen grabs of their alleged nightmare fees. Uber allows prices to surge in times of high demand, which they say helps draw more drivers onto the road.
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New Year's Eve a bust for some Uber drivers, Lyft drivers make it out OK
Another New Year's Eve in San Francisco meant another night of rideshare "surge" pricing for partygoers. Many Uber and Lyft drivers were shaking behind their steering wheels fearing low profits, based on a slow New Year's Eve last year which many drivers described as a "bust." Now it seems this New Year's Eve was more of a mixed bag. Uber drivers report low profits, but Lyft drivers said they saw an uptick in passengers past 1 a.m.
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Sydney Uber prices surge by 800 per cent on New Year's Eve
The free market was in full swing on New Year's Eve, with the newly legalized ride sharing service Uber charging passengers up to eight times normal rates for a ride home. Uber's Facebook page was flooded with complaints from New Year's Eve passengers who were charged up to hundreds of dollars more than usual to get home from the city after a night watching the fireworks.
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PD: Uber driver James Stough arrested for sexually assaulting high school client after finals
Police say a 16-year-old Phoenix girl was sexually assaulted by an Uber driver during a ride home from school earlier this year. Court records reveal that on June 1, 2015, a high school student requested an Uber ride home from her school in Phoenix to her home in North Scottsdale after taking her final exams. Police say the driver, 53-year-old James Richard Stough II, picked her up and started talking with her.
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Uber competitor Sidecar calls it quits
After years of trying to catch up to competitors Uber and Lyft, lesser-known ride-hailing startup Sidecar is ceasing operations. The company stopped offering all rides and deliveries on December 31, 2015 at 2 p.m. PST. Sidecar founder and CEO Sunil Paul announced the decision in a Medium post. Sidecar was an early competitor in the ride-hailing app world. Launched in 2012, it raised $35 million in funding from major venture capital firms, including Virgin's Richard Branson.
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Gang trafficked guns using Greyhound and Uber, officials say
A Big Apple gun ring left the driving to Greyhound - and to Uber, officials with the NYPD and state Attorney General's Office. The gang funneled 50 firearms from Southern states up to New York City, often on a bus, then took an Uber car from the Port Authority Bus Terminal to meetings with undercover cops posing as buyers in Brooklyn, officials said.
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Uber's no-holds-barred expansion strategy fizzles in Germany
Uber is rapidly expanding its ride-hailing operations across the globe. But in Frankfurt, a city of 690,000 - slightly less than the population of San Francisco, Uber's hometown - the company recently did something unusual: It retreated. In early November, Uber shut its small office in Frankfurt's centuries-old city center after just 18 months of operation, mothballing the online platform that had let people in the city hail rides through a smartphone app.
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Uber, Lyft face wild ride in '16
Daily fantasy sports companies have become the face of the fight between technology and regulation, but 2016 is shaping up to be a hugely important year for ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft. The controversial companies are still trying to grow their products and user base, while grappling with a slew of lawsuits across the country and the uncertain prospect of regulations in the state.
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Uber faces obstacles as it aims to expand in China
Uber, the smartphone app that lets you book a ride in a driver's private car, is expanding rapidly worldwide and calls China its number one priority for the new year. To succeed, however, Uber must overcome both legal obstacles and competition on the road. With the smog and traffic to prove it, China has as many as 750 million urban commuters -- and there's a multibillion-dollar battle for their business.
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