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Uber and Lyft to leave Austin after failed vote
When Uber and Lyft threatened to leave Austin if a vote over ridesharing rules didn't work in their favor, they weren't joking around. Both companies say they'll shut down their Austin operations on the morning of May 9th after 56 percent of voters rejected Proposition 1, which would have prevented the city from demanding fingerprint-based background checks as well as banning pickups in traffic lanes. The outfits contend that these measures are too much of a burden on both drivers (who'd have a harder time getting started) and passengers (who'd have to be picky about where they hail rides).
Uber faces lawsuit over aggressive Austin voting ads
Uber is known for being aggressive when it wants changes to the law -- just ask anyone who has received email after email asking for support. However, its latest effort might have crossed the line. The app-hailed transportation service is facing a class-action lawsuit over a text messaging campaign that called on Austin residents to vote for Proposition 1, which would let ridesharing companies operate without running fingerprint background checks. The lawsuit claims that Uber not only spammed Austinites with "vote for Prop 1" messages without their consent, but made it difficult to avoid those promos. Text replies went unanswered, and calling the source number would only give you an automated error message. In other words, it sounds like the sort of robodialer that would violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
