Tag Archives: Uber

Metro to fund RYDE services

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Okay, fine. Transit officials are poised to pick up the tab for another six months of funding on-demand rides around Second Ward and Third Ward. If approved by the Metropolitan Transit Authority board on Thursday, the agency would spend $216,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A brief overview of flying taxis

Posted on May 31, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

This was written by the executive director of the Oklahoma Aerospace Institute for Research and Education, and it answers at least one of my questions about our flying taxi future. In the near term, once eVTOLs are certified to fly … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

On increasing ridership at Metro

Posted on May 1, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

I’m open to hearing more. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County is under new leadership, but the goal of increasing ridership remains the same. While the number of riders steadily has increased across the system since the peak of … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

How about a pilotless air taxi?

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Those are coming, too. Not as quickly and with fewer details now available, but it’s out there. Advanced Air Mobility company Wisk agreed to a deal with Sugar Land last week to bring pilotless air taxis to the Houston area. … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Flying taxis coming to an airport near you

Posted on March 2, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Possibly in time for the FIFA World Cup. The Houston Airport System says they plan to bring air taxis to the area within the next two years, just in time for the FIFA World Cup in 2026. “Right now we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Flying taxis coming to an airport near you

The state of robotaxis in 2024

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Good read. In 2023, it almost felt as if the promise of robotaxis was soon to be fulfilled. Hailing a robotaxi had briefly become the new trendy thing to do in San Francisco, as simple and everyday as ordering a … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The state of robotaxis in 2024

Another step forward for flying cars

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Excuse me, “air taxis”. Researchers are one step closer to integrating air taxis and other electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicles into the country’s busiest airports, thanks to a new air traffic simulation developed by NASA’s Ames Research Center … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Another step forward for flying cars

Cruise cars spotted in the wild

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

There I was at the WalMart on Yale this week, with my parents, and what did I see but this: Yes, it’s a Cruise car, charging up in the parking lot. We knew that at least initially they will have … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Cruise comes to Houston

Posted on May 12, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

I’m genuinely curious to see how this goes. Cruise, a General Motors autonomous vehicle subsidiary, is bringing its self-driving cars to Houston with the goal of offering driverless rides. The cars will begin testing next week, said Megan Prichard, Cruise’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Driverless taxi service arrives in Austin

Posted on January 9, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Brace yourselves, Austinites. A rite of passage as an Austinite is feeling bewildered at other drivers’ choices behind the wheel, but that’s starting to change. Cruise, a driverless ridehailing app, has completed its first driverless rides in Austin, marking its official … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Driverless taxi service arrives in Austin

Driverless taxi update

Posted on December 12, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Things to watch out for in the nearer-than-you-think future, with Austin first in line. When transit systems experience delays, the reason usually isn’t very interesting: congested streets, medical emergencies, mechanical problems. But the cause of a recent holdup on San … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Driverless taxi update

No Roe roundup

Posted on September 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t have a good title for this post, but I do have a collection of stories. Planned Parenthood files restraining order against Texas Right to Life. Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas and its affiliates filed a temporary restraining order … Continue reading →

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Driverless Lyft service coming to Austin

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

We’ll see what the demand is. People in Austin who use the ride-hailing service Lyft will have the option of selecting a self-driving car starting in 2022. But, at least initially, two humans will sit in the front as “test … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Is it a car that flies or a plane that drives?

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

It’s a little of both. A prototype flying car has completed a 35-minute flight between international airports in Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia. The hybrid car-aircraft, AirCar, is equipped with a BMW engine and runs on regular petrol-pump fuel. Its creator, … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Study claims Uber has reduced drunk driving in Houston

Posted on June 14, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Of interest. Paid rides have saved lives and lessened drunk driving convictions in Houston, according to a new study released Wednesday by local researchers that claimed a direct link between more folks hailing an Uber and fewer wheeled into emergency … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Here comes another rideshare company

Posted on October 14, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a less than optimal time to be expanding, but here we are. Alto, a new rideshare company based in Dallas, will roll into view in Houston as it looks to expand its reach and compete with Uber and … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Dallas ends its scooter experiment

Posted on September 10, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Over in Dallas, never started in Houston. Tis better to have scootered and stopped than to have never scootered at all. That is the consensus of a handful of Houston proponents of rental scooters as they watched Dallas this week … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dallas ends its scooter experiment

And now a few words from our city transportation planner

Posted on May 21, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Didn’t know we had one, did you? Well, we do, his name is David Fields, and he had a few things to say to Chron reporter Dug Begley in a recent Q&A: As you look at upcoming plans and projects … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Goodbye, Greenlink

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

Another version of Metro’s downtown trolley system is shut down due to coronavirus, and likely won’t come back, at least not in that format. Downtown Houston’s free shuttle may have hauled its last passenger, a victim of the central district’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Goodbye, Greenlink

It’s the year 2020…

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

But where are the flying cars? And hyperloops? And other things we were promised? Uber will deploy flying cars When Uber Technologies Inc. pledged to deliver on a promise of the Jetsons, it gave itself just three years to do so. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on It’s the year 2020…

Ride sharing for kids

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Yet another transportation option. Los Angeles-based HopSkipDrive, a ride-hailing platform that hires vetted caregivers to drive children 6 and older, is now available in Houston. “Parents shouldn’t have to choose between their careers and their children’s education and activities, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Ride sharing for kids

Uber’s vision for the future

Posted on July 5, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

I feel like this is more wishcasting than real planning. Still, some of it may happen, and if nothing else we should be aware of what it’s all about. When Uber envisions the future, it not only wants to put … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How secure is the future of ridesharing?

Posted on May 27, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Just a couple of recent stories that got me thinking. Item One: Uber’s business model isn’t all there: While there’s optimism about elements of the core business, the company lost more than $3 billion on operations in 2018, revenue growth slowed … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on How secure is the future of ridesharing?

Flying motorcycles

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Look out above. A team of engineers at Texas A&M University is participating in the $2 million-plus GoFly Prize competition, an event sponsored by the aerospace company Boeing to challenge engineers to develop flying devices that are relatively quiet, fit in … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Flying motorcycles

Rideshare for Medicaid?

Posted on March 25, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

This could make sense. Texas would soon start relying on Uber, Lyft and other ridesharing services to shuttle Medicaid patients to and from the doctor, if a new House bill becomes law. The state is one of several eyeing rideshare … Continue reading →

Posted in That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scooter study bill

Posted on March 7, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: State Representative Eddie Rodriguez filed a bill directing the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, in consultation with the Texas Department of Transportation, to conduct a study on the use of motor-assisted scooters. Under HB 2715, the study must … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, That's our Lege | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Scooters come to Galveston

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Charles Kuffner

Still not in Houston, but getting closer. By the end of January, Galveston Island will be crawling with Crab…Scooters. Ryan O’Neal of Galveston said he expects to officially launch his new business Crab Scooters come late January or early February. … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Here come the e-bikes

Posted on December 17, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

To Dallas. Uber is about to jump into Dallas with a brand-new rent-a-ride for this market: rechargeable electric bikes. Jump, which Uber bought in April for $200 million, has filed an application with Dallas City Hall to bring 2,000 stationless … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Driverless taxis have arrived

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

In Phoenix. Google offshoot Waymo announced it is launching the nation’s first commercial driverless taxi service in this and other Phoenix suburbs. The 24/7 service, dubbed Waymo One, will let customers summon self-driving minivans by a smartphone app, a la … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The autonomous cars/mass transit debate

Posted on August 18, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Seems to me this should be a “both-and” rather than an “either-or”, but you know how I get. Autonomous vehicles that will outperform buses, cost less than Uber and travel faster than cars stuck in traffic today are two years … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Uber scooters

Posted on July 15, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Somehow, you knew something like this was going to happen. Uber is getting into the scooter-rental business. The ride-hailing company said Monday that it is investing in Lime, a startup based in San Mateo, California. “Our investment and partnership in … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Who’s gonna clean up that self-driving car?

Posted on June 5, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Here’s a question I hadn’t pondered before. Who will clean self-driving vehicles? I found myself wondering this recently as my son and I tidied the family car after a road trip. We’d been driving for only five hours, but we … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

NASA to test Uber’s flying cars

Posted on May 19, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Just simulations, thankfully. NASA will soon begin testing in Dallas how Uber’s on-demand air-taxi concept would affect crowded areas. Uber is in the midst of designing an air-taxi service, called UberAIR. Officials hope to conduct flight demonstrations starting in 2020 … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on NASA to test Uber’s flying cars

A flock of electronic scooters descending on Austin

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Charles Kuffner

Not actually one of the signs of the apocalypse, though I’m sure it was annoying. Seemingly overnight, Austin was buzzing with electric scooters last month. Scooter riders weaved through crowded sidewalks and traffic downtown and zoomed out of drivers’ blind … Continue reading →

Posted in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments