#Uber #GigEconomy #RideHailing: "Uber’s reluctance to explain how it improved margins and established a P&L advantage versus Lyft is because the explanation directly contradicts these corporate narratives, and because the explanation would help investors see that the recent rate of margin gains is not sustainable.

Uber has abandoned everything that got the market to enthusiastically support them 10 years ago. Uber is now just a much higher cost version of the traditional operators they vilified as an “evil taxi cartel”. Their fares are now higher than traditional taxis used to charge, they no longer offer a lot more cars in peak periods and they no longer serve neighborhoods throughout each city. Uber has completely abandoned its original “megagrowth driven by much more service at much lower prices” strategy but still tells investors that robust growth will drive future equity appreciation. Every Uber attempt to mimic Amazon’s expansion beyond its core market has also failed.

From a narrow P&L perspective Uber’s recent moves to cut service and raise prices are sensible, but if openly discussed investors could realize that the entire corporate growth narrative was always a sham. Investors would stop seeing Uber as a dynamic fast-growing “tech” company and would realize it was simply a player in the economically difficult and slowly growing urban car service industry. Investors applauded Uber for introducing innovative technology that “disrupted” a backward industry and brought huge benefits to consumers and cities.

It does not want those investors to see that the Uber’s “innovative technology” is focused on the algorithmic exploitation of both customers and drivers. It does not want investors to see that none of its recent P&L gains were due to true productivity improvements and thus these gains cannot be extrapolated into the future."

https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/08/hubert-horan-can-uber-ever-deliver-part-thirty-three-uber-isnt-really-profitable-yet-but-is-getting-closer-the-antitrust-case-against-uber.html

Volkswagen will start testing its driverless ID. Buzz in Austin, Texas - Enlarge / If you go to Austin, you might see one of these ID. Buzzes ou... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1951900 #volkswagenid.buzz #electricminivan #self-drivingvan #ridehailing #vwid.buzz #argoai #vwbuzz #vwbus #vwvan #cars

#Africa #Nigeria #Uber #GigEconomy #RideHailing: "According to drivers, vehicles purchased through this partnership came with the condition that the driver would complete 12 trips daily, and spend about 10 hours a day, six days a week, on the Uber app. Despite the long hours, drivers said they find it hard to make money because the cars are hatchbacks, which places them in the cheaper Uber Go category. This means these drivers typically earn less than those who don’t use Moove’s cars. In February, Uber drivers who got their cars through Moove went on strike for days, protesting an increase in the daily repayment amount, among other issues."

https://restofworld.org/2023/uber-moove-impounding-drivers-nigeria/

#USA #California #Uber #GigEconomy #RideHailing: "All said, the catch-up payments stand to be a huge boon to gig workers and delivery drivers throughout the state. Uber, whose business spans ride hailing and food delivery, won’t say how much it’s paid out, but the anecdata suggest it’s a lot. (As of this writing, Uber, Lyft and DoorDash have begun issuing back pay; Instacart and Grubhub have not. Since the payout applies to all companies that work with independent contractors, it applies to Amazon Flex, Target’s Shipt and Walmart’s Spark as well, though those companies tend to pay above the minimum.)

So, what happened? Why weren’t drivers getting the full rate all along? Consumers are paying for it, after all. As Avedian points out, every time you take a Lyft or order Uber Eats, you’re paying an extra 75 cents to a dollar for a fee marked California Driver Benefits, which is then ostensibly used to pay for things like health subsidies and this mileage fee. The resulting pile of money is one the app companies got to sit on for a year and a half, earning interest or investing it or using it to cover losses or so on."

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/story/2023-06-01/column-uber-david-and-goliath

#Uber #RideHailing #GigEconomy: "Uber drivers on Reddit reported receiving an email this weekend telling them that on Saturday, the company had accidentally failed to show drivers a “heatmap” indicating where surge pricing was in effect. The result was that drivers did not receive extra pay for driving passengers while surge pricing was in effect, despite the fact that customers had paid the surge upcharge. Uber confirmed the incident to Motherboard and said it would compensate drivers.

An email posted to Reddit said, “A technical issue may have prevented you from seeing the Driver Surge Heatmap yesterday. The issue is fixed and you can now continue to check the Driver Surge Heatmap for areas of high demand. We are sorry for any inconvenience.”

In the Reddit thread, drivers commiserated over the company’s failure, with many fearing that Uber was going to skip out of their obligation to pay them."

https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxjnzz/uber-charged-riders-surge-rates-but-drivers-didnt-get-paid-due-to-glitch

RT @UrbanDemog
Excited to share the preprint of our new study analyzing the potential of #ridehailing to improve accessibility as a standalone mode + in conjunction with transit as a 1st-mile feeder service
📑 https://osf.io/pesjk/
Great collaboration with @dhersz @mvpsaraiva & @FarberSteven

Wow, that's incredible news! #Uber is really driving full steam ahead! We're seeing huge growth in the first quarter, and I'm sure that momentum will keep going. #RideHailing is a great way to get around and these numbers show that people are taking advantage of it. Let's keep the momentum going and get more people to use this innovative technology! #Growth #Innovation #RideSafe http://www.techmeme.com/230502/p12#a230502p12

Excited to share the preprint of our new study analyzing the potential of #ridehailing to improve accessibility as a standalone mode + in conjunction with transit as a 1st-mile feeder service
📑 https://osf.io/pesjk/
Great collaboration with @dhersz @mvpsaraiva & @FarberSteven

A survey by a gig workers group and the Asian Law Caucus finds that in California, ride-hailing drivers of color are more likely to be deactivated by Uber and Lyft, and that the deactivations can sometimes stem from discrimination and bias experienced by the drivers. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/uber-and-lyft-drivers-are-facing-discrimination-from-customers-and-getting-banned-from-the-apps-report-finds-5b6513dc
#uber #lyft #rideshare #ridehailing

@LikesCalendars @mgaruccio

A *Federated* protocol for ride hailing.

If you want a topical rant by your driver you can federate with specific company instances :-)

I see a booming business of grad student's pursuing PhD's, providing interesting rides.

#fediverse #uber #lyft #ridehailing

https://media.giphy.com/media/AJwnLEsQyT9oA/giphy.gif

#India #GigEconomy #RideHailing #Uber #Unions: "Salauddin is neither a powerful politician nor an affluent business tycoon. An Uber driver by profession, over the last three years, Salauddin has become a quasi-celebrity as a gig industry organizer: spearheading strikes, engaging with policymakers, and highlighting issues in the media to help improve the working conditions of his peers. Walking alongside Salauddin sent a strong message to Gandhi’s supporters: He is serious about India’s unemployment issues. Perhaps Gandhi knew how important it was to be seen with the unofficial leader of millions of gig workers in India.

In 2019, Salauddin co-founded the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT), a coalition of unions that now has over 36,000 members. He currently serves as the federation’s national general secretary. In 2020, he also launched the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPWU), which now has over 10,000 members, including cab drivers, food and grocery delivery workers, and e-commerce delivery persons from the southern state."

https://restofworld.org/2023/india-powerful-uber-driver/

"The findings indicate that more than 50% of respondents were satisfied with the service, but nearly 40% experienced service denial."

Wheelchair Users’ Perspective on Transportation Service Hailed Through Uber and Lyft Apps
Mahtot Gebresselassie
Transportation Research Record
https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981221140369

#accessibility #ridehailing

I’m 2 days into Mastodon now. It’s..not terrible? Mostly I want to (1) keep on top of my hobbies (#gaming, #dnd, #wh40k, #speculativefiction etc); (2) keep on top of things I’m professionally interested in (#legal , #legaltech , #EVs, #ridehailing, #gamedev yes I know these don’t synergise, but I’ll find a way to make them); and (3) see what’s going on in my part of the world and more widely (#hongkong, #hk , #China #香港 #中国 - not seeing a lot of Chinese language here yet, maybe later?)

Grab cars dedicated to airport passengers in Metro Manila seem like a good idea. Are the airport P2P buses still available? #Transportation #PublicTransport #NAIA #Airport #MetroManila #Philippines #Rappler #RideHailing #App #Commuting #Travel https://www.rappler.com/business/miaa-grab-airport-to-anywhere-program-address-airport-problems/

Missing Link: Autonomes Fahren - von gesetzlichen Regelungen und leeren Straßen

Letztes Jahr erfolgte der regulatorische Startschuss für den fahrerlosen Flottenbetrieb in Deutschland. Bisher ist aber noch niemand losgefahren.

https://www.heise.de/hintergrund/Missing-Link-Autonomes-Fahren-von-gesetzlichen-Regelungen-und-leeren-Strassen-7363015.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.-.-

#Auto #Grundlagen #MissingLink #Recht #RideHailing #Robotaxi #TechKonzerne #Verkehr #autonomesFahren

Interesting. It is becoming rare to have an Uber trip accepted without at least one cancellation, I've found lately.
---
Uber drivers with high cancellation rates threatened with deactivation, loss of incentives https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-03/qld-uber-booking-drivers-cancel-cancellation-rates-taxis/101723734

#RideHailing #Uber #Taxi

7 years ago, while trying to get approval to operate in cities all over the world, #Uber insisted that it would actually reduce #traffic. Instead, Uber drivers cruise without passengers 40% of the time. Uber & Lyft no longer claim they reduce traffic, and now admit they actually increase congestion.

So much for “making cities better.”

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-ride-hail-utopia-that-got-stuck-in-traffic-11581742802 #Cities #transportation #urbanism #cars #ridehailing #ridesharing

Living in #NewYork and want a better #ridehailing alternative than #Uber?

Drivers Cooperative works the same way but is owned by the drivers themselves meaning you pay less while they get more. It also means that they decide the rules for themselves leading to fairer working conditions.

Boost, pass it on, use it and save money!

Https://Drivers.coop

"Ride-hailing company #Gojek said on Monday (Mar 2) that it will levy a S$0.70 surcharge on every trip booked through its platform from Mar 9.

"The amount collected from this will go directly towards initiatives designed to improve the experience for customers and driver-partners, so that they can have even more reliable, safe and enjoyable rides," Gojek said in response to queries from CNA."

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/gojek-levy-70-cent-surcharge-platform-fee-all-rides-12490830

#Singapore #RideHailing #transport

"The #RideHailing market here is about to heat up again, with Vietnamese firm FastGo to launch in #Singapore next month as part of its expansion plan in South-east Asia.

Drivers here may register on the FastGo mobile application from April 1 and customers will be able to book rides from April 30."

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/vietnams-fastgo-revs-singapores-ride-hailing-market