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  Keeping a critical eye on Uber, 
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This is 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 and fair commerce from so-called ride-sharing or ride-booking services such as Uber and Lyft. Visit the Archive to read previous editions. Click here to join our mailing list.
Botched Uber request preceded Kalamazoo killing spree
A botched request for an Uber ride may have drawn Jason Dalton to a Kalamazoo neighborhood, the first of three scenes in a shooting spree that left six dead, two injured last month, investigators' documents show. Dalton, 45, the Uber driver who authorities say confessed to killing people, had been called to Meadows Townhomes by a 5:15 p.m. Feb. 20 request using the online ride-sharing app. 
Surveillance video shows accused Kalamazoo shooter dropping off Uber passengers
The City of Kalamazoo released surveillance video that shows Jason Dalton dropping off Uber passengers after the Feb. 20 shooting spree. The videos show Dalton's black Chevy HHR outside the Radisson hotel in Kalamazoo.  Passengers are seen exiting the vehicle before Dalton drives away. Officials say the videos were recorded at about 12:15 a.m. Feb. 21, about 25 minutes before Dalton was arrested. 
Michigan shooting suspect says Uber app controlled him
The Uber driver in Michigan charged with murdering six people last month in a shooting spree told investigators that the ride-sharing app had the ability to "take over" his body, a local television station reported on Monday. The Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Department provided WZZM-TV around 100 pages worth of documents related to the deadly rampage in which Jason Dalton is charged in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. 
Read more from Reuters
2 Michigan Uber drivers face sexual assault charges
Two Uber drivers have been charged in connection with sexual assaults in East Lansing in January and February. Hassan Ibrahim, 48, faces one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with an incident that occurred Feb. 14, according to East Lansing police. He turned himself in March 11 after a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Uber driver is accused of raping a woman he picked up from a bar in Orange County, Calif.
Prosecutors are seeking possible victims connected to an Uber driver who has been charged with raping a female passenger after he picked her up from a bar in Fullerton. Omar Mahmoud Mousa, 52, of Anaheim appeared in court where his bail was set at $100,000, said Roxi Fyad, spokeswoman of the Orange County district attorney's office. His arraignment was scheduled for April 8. 
Uber driver in Tennessee charged with aggravated rape of customer
A 42-year-old Uber driver has been charged with the Aggravated Rape of a customer. According to the Murfreesboro Police Department report, the incident took place on the night of October 31st last year. The 22-year-old victim and a friend were at a party on that evening when the friend arranged for an Uber to take her home so she wouldn't have to drive. The friend told police she tracked the driver's route and realized he had gone off course. 
CHP uses Taser on Uber driver after high-speed chase
An Uber driver led officers on a chase that reached speeds above 100 mph before a spike strip stopped his car and a Taser gun was used to subdue him, the California Highway Patrol said. Officers tried to pull over 37-year-old Idrees Zalmy, of Newark as he drove a Toyota Camry east on Interstate 80 near the San Pablo Dam Road exit, CHP spokesman Officer Sean Wilkenfeld said.
Uber balks at rules proposed by world's busiest airport
Atlanta's airport - the world's busiest - and Los Angeles officials want to force Uber drivers to get fingerprint-based background checks to pick up passengers, but the ride-hailing service is balking. The debate over the safety of Uber and other app-based ride-booking services intensified last month, when police say an Uber driver went on a shooting spree in Michigan that led to six deaths. 
LA mayor pushes fingerprint-based background checks for Uber and Lyft drivers
Drivers for Uber, Lyft and limousine services in Los Angeles should undergo fingerprint scans and background checks similar to those imposed on local taxi drivers, Mayor Eric Garcetti and two city lawmakers told California regulators. The recommendation was included in a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission, which is weighing whether to impose stricter rules on the popular app-based ride services. 
McPier sues Uber, Lyft over tax on airport rides
The agency that runs McCormick Place sued Uber and Lyft over a tax the convention center center owner says it is owed from the ride-booking services for rides departing from Chicago airports. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (McPier) alleges that the companies have failed to collect and remit a $4 fee for every pickup made at O'Hare and Midway airports since December.
Ride-hailing drivers owe city $15M, fueling demands for licensing
Uber and Lyft drivers owe Chicago taxpayers $15 million - for unpaid parking tickets, red-light and speed camera fines and overdue water bills - fueling demands to require them to get chauffeur's licenses. When Business Affairs and Consumer Protection Commissioner Maria Guerra Lapacek revealed the level of outstanding debt to the City Council's License Committee, Ald. John Arena (45th) tried to seize on it. 
Uber, Lyft bill fails as legislative session closes
An effort in the Florida Legislature to pass statewide regulations for app-based ridesharing services including Uber and Lyft is dead for this year. As the legislative session ended, weeks of acrimonious negotiations and public sparring among legislators, ridesharing companies and competitors in the taxi industry failed to produce agreement on a bill. Without such a law, ridesharing networks have been operating in a legal gray area. 
What we call Uber drivers has huge implications
In five short years, Uber has shaken up much more than just the taxi industry. With the success of its "driver partner" business model, the ride-sharing giant has helped scramble the very concept of employment, forcing riders and regulators alike to ask themselves who qualifies as a worker and what constitutes work. Those questions were around long before iPhone apps and surge pricing.
Some Uber drivers feel left behind as company chases lower fares
When Uber rolled into L.A. back in 2012, Sam was one of the first drivers to sign up. He'd been a professional driver for over a decade, so signing up with Uber - which at that point was exclusively a black-car service - made sense. For a while, he says, he was doing well driving his 2004 Lincoln Town Car on the platform. But things started to change in 2014, when Uber updated its standards for luxury cars and his Town Car didn't make the cut. 
Uber drivers' next stop: Bankruptcy?
To keep drivers on the road, both Uber and Lyft are offering an ever diversified range of financing options that include short-term rentals and subsidized leases. But when it comes to their personal finances, many Bay Area drivers say they're running on empty. Drivers - who shoulder a wide range of expenses tied to their work - often describe tenuous financial circumstances that can crash quickly owing to events beyond their control.
Lyft drivers, if employees, owed millions more
Drivers who worked for ride-hailing service Lyft in California during the past four years would have been entitled to an estimated $126 million in expense reimbursements had they been employees rather than contractors, court documents made public show. Lyft drivers would have recouped an average of $835 each under a standard rate for mileage reimbursement set by the U.S. government, according to the documents, which have not been previously reported.
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