NewsWatch
Keeping a critical eye on Uber,
Lyft and other transportation
network companies
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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.
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Uber adds tax avoidance to its less-than-stellar resume
Drivers with convictions for murder, kidnapping, assault and burglary, and charges of rape: Check. Laughably shoddy employee screening: Check. Utter disregard for passenger safety: Check. And now we can add tax avoidance to Uber's impressive list of dubious accomplishments. According to a recent Bloomberg Businessweek report, Uber has assigned its IP to Bermuda, a well-known tax haven, meaning the U.S. is able to tax less than 2 percent of its net revenue. The company also admitted that it processes ride payments outside the U.S. through the Netherlands.
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Uber is facing a staggering number of lawsuits
Last year, 50 lawsuits were filed against Uber in U.S. federal court. You might be wondering whether that's a lot; after all, Uber operates in 68 countries, employs more than 5,000 people and is the most highly valued start-up in the world. We're here to tell you that it is a lot, and that all this litigation is a serious problem for Silicon Valley's favorite start-up. Let's compare Uber's caseload to its tech brethren. Uber's closest rival, Lyft, was sued less than a third as often. Airbnb, the second most highly valued start-up in the U.S., was sued just five times last year.
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SF to require Lyft, Uber drivers to obtain business licenses
For the first time, San Francisco is going to require the 37,000 Lyft and Uber drivers who work in the city seven or more days a year to obtain a business license. City Treasurer Jose Cisneros wouldn't fully explain why he is now requiring the license, which will cost drivers $91 annually, when the companies started operations years ago. But one reason, he said, is that the city launched its online business registration system in March - before, registrants had to go to City Hall to apply in person.
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Uber and Lyft have devastated L.A.'s taxi industry, city records show
The rise of Uber and Lyft has dealt a swift, brutal blow to the Los Angeles taxi industry. Since the ride-hailing services began operating in Southern California three years ago, the number of L.A. taxi trips arranged in advance has fallen by 42%, according to city records, and the total number of trips has plummeted by nearly 30%. The steepest drops were in the city's most popular nightlife and tourist destinations: the Westside, Hollywood and downtown.
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Uber labor policies scrutinized by NLRB
The battle over whether Uber Technologies Inc. drivers are employees or independent contractors has a new front. Lawyers for the National Labor Relations Board asked a federal judge in San Francisco to force Uber to hand over documents to help the agency determine whether drivers should be considered employees under federal labor law. The request from the agency charged with investigating unfair labor practices comes as a result of charges brought by a handful of individual Uber drivers who allege that the company violated their rights to organize and be free from retaliation.
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Uber was just hit with another lawsuit
It's no secret that Uber drivers have been upset with the company. The clash has been going on for a while now, and when drivers' earnings were slashed to below minimum wage in January, protests erupted all over the country. One massive rally even aimed to shut down the Super Bowl. Drivers felt their voices weren't being heard, especially after CEO Travis Kalanick allegedly began blocking them on Twitter. The latest event in the always interesting saga of Uber vs. its own drivers revolves around a lawsuit filed by two drivers from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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A court in Argentina has ordered a crackdown on Uber's operations
Just a day after Uber began operating in Buenos Aires, a court in the Argentine capital ordered authorities to take steps to halt the ride-hailing service's operations in the city. A local court told the mayor's office to "arbitrate the necessary measures to suspend any activity by the company," according to the Associated Press. Uber announced it was starting operations in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, but, the AP noted, the mayor's office said it was not allowed to do so because it does not yet meet some requirements for carrying passengers.
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Silicon Valley's "Uber for Kids" bites the dust
While venture-capital firms have been raising record-setting amounts of cash, V.C.s are spending less and less to bankroll start-ups-in fact, funding in the first three months of 2016 fell 25 percent, the largest decline since the dot-com bubble burst. The belt-tightening is having an effect, too: Shuddle, an "Uber for kids" ride-hailing service, told its drivers it would be shutting down operations, after it ran out of money and failed to raise more capital. The Bay Area-based start-up is one of several that offers ride-hailing services for children, which both Uber and Lyft say they don't do.
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Uber, disrupted
One of the key microeconomic concepts of companies that operate in a juicy-margin, monopolistic competition environment is that it doesn't take too long for others to move in and take away those fat profits. Uber is fast becoming a textbook case, and its experience in Singapore is a good example. The ride-hailing app reduced its prices in the city-state by about 15 percent amid fierce competition from local startup Grab and more aggressive strategies from existing taxi companies.
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2 Ann Arbor drivers sue Uber: Give us our tips
Online taxi giant Uber is battling yet another legal headache, this one triggered by two Ann Arbor drivers who are suing over wages and benefits, claiming that Uber is keeping their tips, denying them benefits and forcing them to pay for things like gas and repairs. The claims aren't novel. Over the last year, Uber drivers in California, New York and Washington state have filed similar class actions against Uber, claiming the company stiffed them out of tips and wages.
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Woman shot four times by crazed Uber driver Jason Dalton in Kalamazoo seeks to forgive gunman, 'I don't hate him at all'
The first person hurt in a mass shooting in southwestern Michigan says she can't hate the man charged in the rampage and seeks to forgive him, even as she's trying to walk and use her "completely reconstructed" arm. Tiana Carruthers spoke publicly for the first time at the Kalamazoo hospital where she was treated after being hit four times in the Feb. 20 shootings that killed six people. Authorities say a man shot at people in three different locations in between driving passengers for Uber and that Carruthers shielded children from danger.
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'We won't stop': Baraka fires back amid mounting Uber pushback
Facing an all-out campaign to stop the city from regulating Uber and other app-based livery services, Mayor Ras Baraka is launching a fight of his own. In a video posted to the city's YouTube account, Baraka acknowledged Uber's recent pushback against an ordinance that would force its drivers to acquire licenses to operate in the city and its airport, saying money and energy spent on the fight could be used for good-faith negotiations.
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