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Uber opens car-leasing program to lure in more drivers
Over the past few days, Uber's been busy introducing new PR stunts and dealing with a controversy about its app being deceitful. Today the company's making a move that, if it works according to plan, will benefit its long-term business strategy: it is piloting a car-leasing program for people who want to be Uber drivers. Up until now, the ridesharing firm had worked with Santander Consumer USA to offer a similar option to people, but this is the first time it's going to be done in-house. And Uber will have both new and used cars up for lease. As Re/code reports, California, Georgia and Maryland will have access to it initially -- but knowing Uber, it won't be long before the program heads to more states and, perhaps, more countries.
StubHub lets eventgoers call an Uber from its app
People love it when companies make things easier for them, and that's exactly what StubHub is doing today. If you use the service to buy tickets to events, like a live concert or sports game, you'll now be able to book an Uber directly from its iOS and Android apps. The best part about this is that, once you've purchased a ticket, the StubHub application sends a notification to your device (two hours prior to the event) asking if you'd like to request an Uber. And, similar to Live Nation's partnership with the ridesharing firm, there's no need to type in the address to the venue -- StubHub lets drivers know where the drop-off point is.
Uber's panic button can let cops in India know where you are
Earlier this year, Uber launched an in-app panic button for people in India, which lets any user easily alert local police in case of an emergency. And now this safety feature is getting improved. The ride-sharing service announced today that the real-time SOS alert can start being accessed by law enforcement officials, allowing them to track the exact location of a passenger who may require assistance during a trip. Previously, the panic button would only connect Uber users with the cops over a phone call, so this is designed to save time for potential victims -- and that could turn out to be life-saving.
Maaxi lets you share a taxi across London with up to five strangers
Uber is still pushing for world domination, but in London regular black cabs are still one of the most popular ways to get around town. Ride-sharing is also on the rise, but Uber is yet to launch either UberPool or UberPop in Britain. Spotting a gap in the market, newcomer Maaxi is launching a similar offering with the aid of regular black cabs. The app lets you book individual seats, which means you can share your journey with up to five people in order to cut down your fare. Maaxi says, at least to begin with, it'll be focusing on journeys that follow public transport routes. Drivers will deviate for specific pick-ups and drop-offs, but the idea is to focus on the areas of London with the highest demand from passengers. After all, this kind of service will likely thrive or die based on the number of people using it -- if you find yourself travelling solo for most journeys, the app's key selling point is moot.
Lyft's answer to rideshare safety is befriending your driver
While Uber is doing its best to make sure passengers feel safe with its drivers, Lyft just wants us all to be friends. Next week a new "Lyft profiles" feature is coming to the app that the company hopes will "humanize" the "ride experience," sparking conversations and connecting passengers and drivers in more meaningful ways.
Uber drivers in Chicago start testing electric cars
Chicago now serves as home to an Uber fleet comprised of 25 all-electric cars. They're not Tesla Model S vehicles like that Uber ride Engadget's editors hailed back in 2013, though -- they're BYD e6 EVs straight from China. Uber has teamed up with Chinese automaker BYD or "Build Your Dream" in an effort to help its drivers either buy or lease new cars. While it seems odd that the company has chosen to partner with BYD instead of with manufacturers more well-known in the country like Tesla, e6s are larger than many other EVs. It's already being used by a chauffer service in London (and a taxi company in Hong Kong) for that reason.
Spinlister wants to be the Zipcar of smart bike rentals
This smart bike is about to turn urban ridesharing on its ear. Spinlister, a global peer-to-peer bike sharing program, announced plans at SXSW on Friday to sell these specially-built VanMoof smart bikes for use as franchised rentals through its mobile app. It's like Uber or Lyft but, you know, with pedals.
Gotham Air is the helicopter taxi you can order from your smartphone
Gotham Air, a new ride-sharing service in New York City, has released its iOS and Android apps to the general public. They probably won't be replacing Uber or Lyft in most people's lives though, because as the name suggests, Gotham Air rents out helicopters not cars. Plus, its choppers only fly from Manhattan's Downtown Heliport to either JFK or Newark airport, and passengers can only have one 25-pound carry-on bag with them. The apps are easy enough to use, though: just sign up for an account, reserve a seat for $219 each (the service sometimes offers an introductory price of $99 for certain times of the day) and pay via credit card.
Sound Off! Do ridesharing privacy issues make you nervous?
Uber is not having a good week. Between surreptitiously tracking journalists' trips inside 'God View' and an executive implying the company should dig up dirt on reporters critical of the service, the company has been on a pretty bumpy road. However, they're still one of the most popular ride sharing services. Does the company's seemingly callous disregard for customer privacy change whether you still use its app? Head over to the Engadget forums and share your thoughts on ridesharing. [Image credit: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Sidecar is the first ride-sharing app to officially serve San Francisco airport
One of San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón's many complaints about ride-sharing services is that none of them had the permits necessary to take customers to SFO. Sidecar, however, has ticked that box by obtaining official permission to take passengers to and from their flights, albeit with two pretty big caveats. The first is that the permit is for a pilot program that SFO is running to study traffic congestion, so there's no word on how long this license will last for. Second, is that ride-sharing -- enabling several people to share a single car and reduce congestion -- is still not permitted at the airport, thanks to the California Public Utilities Commission. It's an odd piece of logic that Sidecar CEO Sunil Paul is more than happy to point out, and hopes that the CPUC iron out the holes in its thinking sooner rather than later. For the rest of us, we can be comforted in the knowledge that Sidecar will resume airport rides within the next 30 days.
Not so fast: Uber facing bans in Germany once again
Just when you thought Uber's legal battle in Germany was settled once and for all, Bloomberg is now writing about the company having to deal with new challenges in that country. According to the report, Uber has been ordered to bring its UberPop and UberBlack services to a halt, yet again, in two of Germany's biggest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. Local authorities there argued that Uber clearly violates German laws, claiming the ridesharing firm doesn't have the appropriate license to operate legally, which was enough for courts in those cities to rule in favor of a ban. "The services violate multiple rules for transporting people that serve to protect customers," a spokesperson for the Berlin court told Bloomberg. "The ban serves to protect the viability and functioning of the taxi services, in which the public has an important interest."
Uber drivers reportedly dealing with robberies in Los Angeles
For Uber, its rise to the top hasn't always gone smoothly. From facing legal challenges across different parts of the world, to battling it out verbally with competitors, the ridesharing company has had to fight hard to make a name for itself. And now things have apparently taken a turn for the worse, at least for some of its drivers. According to PandoDaily, a number of Uber drivers in Los Angeles say they have been suffering from serious attacks, such as robberies at gunpoint, in recent months. The report, which cites three drivers who spoke on condition of anonymity, claims that people with bad intentions are using the Uber app to locate drivers on a map in order to rob them. While, in most cases, these criminals are looking to steal the Uber-provided phones carried by operators, PandoDaily was told someone was, at one point, the victim of a carjacking situation. Either way, the main concern here shouldn't be the iPhones or vehicles at stake, but rather every driver's safety. We've reached out to Uber for comment and will update this story if we hear back.
Uber makes it easier for riders, drivers to get to their destination
Even though Uber is in the middle of a ridesharing battle against competitor Lyft, that's not stopping the company from focusing to make its product better. With this in mind, Uber just announced a couple of new features that will improve the experience for riders and drivers alike, both on iOS and Android. For starters, the app now allows you to enter your destination as you're booking a ride, allowing the driver to easily see where you're going as soon as you step in the car. Drivers (who only use iPhones, by the way), on the other hand, can now see the destination you entered and use turn-by-turn navigation to get to it -- this is important to simplify the process, as it keeps every driver from having to manually input an address. More importantly, Uber says these updates bring it one step closer to its vision of "a day when there is no coordination necessary" to take a ride.
Lyft gets the green light to operate in New York City
Nearly two weeks after New York's Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman, made a push to bar Lyft from offering its ridesharing service in New York City, both parties have finally come to an agreement. As a result, Lyft is now free to operate in all five boroughs of The Big Apple, after the company "agreed to operate in New York State in full compliance with existing laws and regulations." In addition, Lyft has also assured state officials it will operate with commercial drivers only. But it wasn't a complete win for the pink mustache company, as this agreement stipulates that Lyft must cease services in Buffalo and Rochester by next week, on August 1st.
New French law could force Uber drivers to return home after every fare
If you're at a party and the host stops offering you drinks, it's a subtle hint that it's probably time to make tracks. Similarly, France is making it very clear that it isn't too keen on ride-sharing apps like Uber, to the point where its senate is proposing a law making it as difficult as humanly possible for the service to operate. In the law, which will be voted on by the National Assembly in the fall, drivers would be required to return to their company headquarters or homes between each and every job. As well as that, those same cars wouldn't be able to publish their location online, meaning that consumers won't be able to hail the cab closest to them from their smartphone.
Pennsylvania is the latest state to go after Uber and Lyft
It's no secret that some places, whether it be in the US or other parts of the world, are not in approval of the way ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft operate. And, starting today, we can add Pittsburgh to the list of cities where these app-based car services can't do business legally, at least not for the time being. The news comes after two local judges have granted the Pennsylvania Public Utility's petition to issue cease-and-desist orders to them. As the Pittsburgh Business Times notes, Uber and Lyft won't be free to continue offering their service "until they secure the appropriate authority" from the PUC.
Scientists are trying to help taxis beat Uber at its own game
Taxi companies aren't pleased with Uber and Lyft, but they could be making way better use of ride-sharing technology themselves, according to researchers. A study by MIT and Fujitsu examined why cabs are usually underutilized, but never available during surge periods when you need them. To combat that, they developed on-demand tech that automatically assigns vehicles three possible operating states: taxi, ride-sharing and fixed-route modes. Customers could choose one of those when they order a ride, and immediately receive the boarding times and fares, which would vary by mode. That could save passengers a lot of money, and a test on Tokyo roads resulted in operators making 80 percent more profits too. Fujitsu's goal is to see it operating in Tokyo by 2016, but it might take some convincing to get it adopted more widely. Still, why not beat the upstarts at their own game?
Uber and Google are just getting started
This week, Google announced a huge update to its Maps app on Android and iOS, bringing new tools such as lane guidance along with one particularly intriguing feature: Uber integration. If you have the ride-sharing service's app on your phone, Uber will show up as an option when you search for public-transit directions, and you'll be able to jump into the Uber app from Maps to order a ride. Google's clearly favoring one ride-ordering app over others like Hailo and Lyft. Of course, Uber's integration with Maps will mean nothing to you if you don't already have the app on your phone, but for current customers, it's one more reminder that a ride's just a few taps away. Looking at the larger picture, though, this move points to Google's (literal) investment in Uber -- and it could be the first step in a wide-reaching partnership between the two companies. Driverless rides to the airport, anyone?
Belgium bans Uber, threatens €10,000 fine for each attempted pickup
A Brussels court has declared Uber to be illegal in Belgium, saying the company will be fined €10,000 for every ride. The UberPOP ride-sharing service has been on shaky ground there since its February launch, with the government even seizing vehicles. As in France, taxi drivers are taking umbrage with the company since its drivers don't have to pay for pricey licenses. The French government actually forced Uber chauffeurs to wait 15 minutes before picking up passengers in response, which now seems tame in comparison to Belgium's actions. Uber has yet to comment, but previously said it's been open with the government and called the seizures "disproportionate and targeted." As with Tesla, however, it's learning how hard it is to deal with an entrenched industry.
Seattle limits access to Uber, Lyft and other ride-sharing vehicles
Uber, Lyft, Sidecar and other ride-sharing services just suffered a huge setback in Seattle, and it's way more serious than getting their vehicles' tires slashed by irate competitors. The city's council members have decided to uphold a decision they made in February -- one that caps every platform's active vehicles to a measly 150 each. According to TechCrunch, the decision was a result of various complaints and questions regarding these services, which you can use to summon cars through mobile apps, as they're relatively new. Most of those were concerns for public safety, even though the companies already screen their drivers (in California, at least) and are expanding their insurance coverage. Considering Uber claims to have roughly 1,000 drivers in the city, this move will not only put many of them out of work, but also severely limit each company's capacity to meet demand.
