Tag Archives: Lyft

Uber settles California fingerprints lawsuit

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. Ride-hailing company Uber will pay at least $10 million to settle allegations by California prosecutors that it misled passengers about the quality of its driver background checks. The settlement was signed Thursday in San Francisco, where … Continue reading →

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Lubbock to consider rideshare ordinance

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

You know what that means. Uber drivers may soon be required to have background checks and operational permits in the city of Lubbock, a move that in the past has prompted the company to pull out of some Texas cities. … Continue reading →

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Supreme Court declines to intervene in Austin Uber referendum

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Who knew they could do that? The Texas Supreme Court on Monday declined to order the Austin City Council to rewrite the ballot language on the proposed ride-hailing ordinance that will go before voters May 7. Austin music manager Samantha … Continue reading →

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Austin will vote on rideshare ordinance revision

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The month of May just got a lot more interesting. Let the people choose how to regulate Uber and Lyft, a divided Austin City Council decided late Thursday. The council, on a 2-8-1 vote, declined to adopt an ordinance underlying … Continue reading →

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Driverless car technology update

Posted on February 14, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

I have a personal stake in this story. James Kuffner, the head of Google’s robotics division and one of the original team of ten who started its self-driving car work, has left the company for a job at Toyota’s $1 … Continue reading →

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Maybe the state should regulate Uber and Lyft after all

Posted on January 23, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly reviews the current state of affairs with transportation network companies (TNCs) like Uber and Lyft and their fight against mandatory fingerprinting as part of the background checks that new drivers must ondergo, all of which is playing out … Continue reading →

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Petitioners may force vote to change Austin rideshare ordinance

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Assuming there were no shenanigans, this is an impressive show of force. A group looking to overturn an Austin ordinance requiring fingerprinting of ride-hailing drivers said Monday it has gathered more than 65,000 petition signatures, more than three times what … Continue reading →

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Another Uber lawsuit update

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

Looks like we are headed towards a jury trial soon. U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore has denied Uber’s request for summary judgment and rejected parts of the company’s motion to dismiss. “This court has found that the question of the … Continue reading →

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Austin versus San Antonio on ridesharing

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Charles Kuffner

The Current reviews the state of play. In the spring of 2014, Lyft led the way in Austin, but the company launched without city approval and was eventually banned, along with Uber, which launched in the capital a short time … Continue reading →

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Austin passes new vehicles for hire regulations

Posted on December 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’ll be very interesting to see how this plays out. Defying implied threats that such a vote would chase Uber and Lyft out of town, the Austin City Council late Thursday put into city statutes mandatory fingerprint-based background checks for … Continue reading →

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Update on the cab companies’ lawsuit against Uber and Lyft

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Yesterday I noted the latest lawsuit against Uber, filed in San Antonio by a former Uber driver who alleged that their pay amounted to a sub-minimum wage total. Over the weekend we got an update on the lawsuit filed here … Continue reading →

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Uber returns to San Antonio

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

They’re back. The ink had barely dried on the signed operating agreement when ride-hailing firm Uber restarted operations in San Antonio Tuesday, ahead of competitor Lyft, which agreed to a deal in August but has yet to implement services here. … Continue reading →

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Uber and Lyft versus fingerprints

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

They prefer to do their own background checks, which of course do not require fingerprint checks. Houston, San Antonio and Austin currently take different approaches to a key regulatory issue: whether vehicle-for-hire app drivers must undergo fingerprint background checks. The … Continue reading →

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Uber update, part 4

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s the last installment of the Chron/Al Jazeera analysis of how Uber is operating in Houston. Most of the story is about what parts of town have better service from Uber – short answer, inside the Loop – and how … Continue reading →

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Uber update, parts 2 and 3

Posted on September 29, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Driving for Uber is a tough way to make a living. One hundred job applications and still nothing. Jennifer Cantrell, 34, partway through a master’s degree in social work, had depleted her savings and needed a new plan. Through Facebook, … Continue reading →

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Uber update, part 1

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron, in conjunction with Al Jazeera Americas, gives the first of what should be a four-part look at how Uber is doing in Houson. Less than a year after Houston began regulating so-called transportation network companies, questions persist about … Continue reading →

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Uber wants to add more drivers here

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

An Uber surge is coming. Eighteen months after launching in Houston, Uber, the popular ride-sharing service known for its conflicts with regulators, plans to add 5,000 drivers in the area over the next year. Uber leaders, staff of the nonprofit … Continue reading →

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More on Uber and drunk driving

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

We have a study. In this work, we investigate how the entry of the driving service Uber influences the rate of alcohol related motor vehicle homicides. While significant debate has surrounded the entry of driving services like Uber and Lyft, … Continue reading →

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SA Council approves new rules to allow Lyft to return

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Close vote, but it counts. The ride-hailing firm Lyft will soon re-start operations in San Antonio in the wake of a controversial City Council decision Thursday that will allow the company to offer rides here during a nine-month pilot program. … Continue reading →

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Lyft to come back to San Antonio

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

San Antonio is no longer without any rideshare companies. The ride-hailing company Lyft is poised to return in the “near future” to San Antonio — after the City Council reviews a proposed pilot program next week. Councilman Roberto Treviño, who … Continue reading →

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Deja vu all over again in San Antonio

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Are you ready for some more municipal wrangling over Uber and Lyft? Of course you are. A post-election push to craft city policies to allow ride-hailing firms Uber and Lyft to operate in San Antonio has also prompted the taxi … Continue reading →

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San Antonio wants a do-over on Uber and Lyft

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe the third time will be the charm. Mayor Ivy Taylor said Friday that there’s a demand for transportation-network companies in San Antonio and signaled that she wants to work a new deal that would allow Uber and Lyft to … Continue reading →

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Mayoral candidate forum season gets underway

Posted on May 31, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Gentlemen, start your oratorical engines for these upcoming Mayoral candidate forums. The events, which will focus on arts and culture, economic development, and labor and community concerns, kick off a months-long cycle in which the candidates will appear before various … Continue reading →

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Can you make a living as an Uber driver?

Posted on May 30, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Not a very good one, it would seem. Last year, Uber claimed its full-time New York City UberX drivers were making a median wage of about $90,000 a year. Drivers responded by telling Business Insider’s Maya Kosoff that they were … Continue reading →

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Statewide Uber bill appears dead

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Close, but no cigar. A bill to establish statewide rules for “transportation network companies” like Uber and Lyft has apparently run out of road. Rep. Chris Paddie, who authored the measure, said on Tuesday that looming legislative deadlines had rendered … Continue reading →

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Dallas writes a letter to the Lege about Lyft and Uber

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

They would like for the Lege to not overrule them on regulating these transportation network companies. Dallas city leaders, writing to House Speaker Joe Straus, have underlined their opposition to a bill that would create statewide rules for “transportation network … Continue reading →

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Uber sues Houston

Posted on May 1, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s all about the secrecy. Uber is once again suing to keep its secrets. The ride-hailing service filed suit in Houston last week to block the release of public records that would reveal how many drivers it has licensed in … Continue reading →

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Statewide Uber/Lyft bill passes out of committee

Posted on April 23, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s gotten better, but it’s still not good enough. A bill to establish statewide rules for “transportation network companies” like Uber and Lyft has been tweaked to address some concerns that its background check requirements weren’t stringent enough. That change … Continue reading →

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The alternate approach to statewide regulations for Uber and Lyft

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

That’s one way to do it. Another round of sparring between Texas cities and car service companies like Lyft and Uber played out on Tuesday before a panel of Texas lawmakers. The proposal that was debated — which would let … Continue reading →

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AirBnB in Texas

Posted on April 19, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

The Rivard Report offers a useful overview of this growing service. With success comes regulation and Airbnb, the wildly popular “sharing economy” website that allows users to rent out portions of their home to adventuresome travelers, has had more than … Continue reading →

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Mayor Parker pressures Uber

Posted on April 17, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Good. After two weeks of rising tensions between the city and the ride-sharing service Uber, Mayor Annise Parker on Wednesday warned the company it risks losing the right to operate in Houston unless it submits a plan to bring its … Continue reading →

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More Uber safety debating

Posted on April 15, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a topic that’s not going away. With the new, smartphone-based services, drivers and passengers said, the relationship between the person behind the wheel and the person paying for the trip is unique: “It’s just you and them,” one driver … Continue reading →

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Uber and background checks

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Uber is back in the news again, and as has often been the case it’s not in a good way. Houston officials discovered crimes ranging from aggravated robbery to driving on a suspended license when they checked the backgrounds of … Continue reading →

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Do we need a statewide solution for Uber and Lyft?

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Charles Kuffner

Bill Hammond of the Texas Association of Business thinks so. Fans of apps like Uber and Lyft may find that the rules governing their operations in one city differ dramatically from those in a community down the street or across … Continue reading →

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