More Complaints From Uber Drivers About Low Wages, In The Face Of Uber’s Anti Slavery Pledge

 

Uber drivers say their take-home pay is being cut as the taxi industry disruptor responds to pressure from new entrants in the increasingly crowded "ride-share" market.

The Silicon Valley giant introduced "upfront pricing", which gives passengers the exact cost of their ride ahead of the journey, and launched a service called UberPool, which allows passengers travelling in the same direction to share a ride for a discounted rate.

Uber says the two initiatives are intended to grow its user numbers, which will help its "driver partners" to be successful. 

But drivers said the result has been they take home less pay for doing the same amount of work and have announced a two hour strike on Monday morning as part of the push for better conditions.

"Rates are already too low and unsustainable, leaving drivers with very little profit and well below minimum wage take-home pay," said Max B, an Uber driver who runs the advocacy group RideShare Drivers United.

"Now they have this to boot, a system that exploits them even more."

The group is calling for drivers to log-off the Uber system en masse from 7am until 9.30am on Monday, August 6.

Max B, who would not reveal his last name for fear of being "deactivated" by Uber, told Fairfax Media the shift to "upfront fares" saw drivers’ pay rates drop between 10 to 30 per cent, while drivers were losing up to 40 per cent on UberPOOL trips.

Like a traditional taxi meter, Uber now calculates the fare based on the trip’s distance, and time taken, but with current traffic conditions it’s almost impossible to give an exact estimate especially with the uncertainty of the Sat-Nav rout taken. It also crunches data from past trips but rarely gives an estimate anywhere near the final cost. 

Source : shm.com

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT : 

The irony from this company is beyond belief 👀

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2KizQDJ
via IFTTT

Report Says Companies Like Uber Increase Traffic Congestion by 180 Percent In Major Cities

Bruce Schaller, a transit consultant who served as deputy commissioner for traffic and planning in New York City, released a new report (“Automobility”) Wednesday examining the effect of transit network companies (TNCs) like Lyft and Uber on city traffic.

While Schaller’s findings highlight some benefits of ride-hailing apps, including increased mobility for riders with disabilities and as a valuable supplement to public transit in areas where bus service is inadequate, “Automobility” draws unflattering conclusions for SF-based TNCs.

A few of Schaller’s findings:

• Ride-hailing trips are concentrated mainly in a few large cities, including SF: “Seventy percent of Uber and Lyft trips are in nine large, densely populated metropolitan areas: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington DC.” These nine cities accounted for 1.2 billion rides in 2017.
• Ride-hailing trips are by far more popular in SF than anywhere else: In 2017, Schaller estimates that San Franciscans took 75 million trips via hide-hailing apps. That’s not only more than almost any other city, it’s also the most in terms of rides per population density, some 86 rides per person. The only city with a higher TNC ride volume is New York, which clocked 159 million; however, New York is also the sole city that still prefers taxis, taking 167 million cab trips the same year.
• Critically, Schaller alleges that TNCs compete with public transit, not private cars: “[Rider surveys indicate] about 60 percent of TNC users in large, dense cities would have taken public transportation, walked, biked, or not made the trip if TNCs had not been available for the trip.” 
• The report alleges that Lyft and Uber generate more traffic congestion: “Private-ride TNC services (UberX, Lyft) put 2.8 new TNC vehicle miles on the road for each mile of personal driving removed, for an overall 180 percent increase in driving on city streets.” 
• And TNC expansion won’t fix it: The companies often argue that in the long run, if ride-hailing apps become the norm instead of personal driving, it will lead to a net decline in miles. But Schaller estimates that “Lyft’s recently announced goal of 50 percent of rides being shared by 2022 would produce 2.2 TNC miles being added to city streets for each personal auto mile taken off the road.” 
• Self-driving cars would be most useful in the form of shuttle-like group commutes: “A widely-cited travel model for Lisbon, Portugal, for example, found that traffic could increase by approximately 50 percent if travelers favored autonomous ‘regular taxis’ that are not shared. On the other hand, the model showed a 37 percent decline in vehicle kilometers, and total elimination of congestion, under a shared-taxi scenario.” Presently, TNC rides remain primarily single-passenger trips.

For Schaller’s full report, including his list of cited sources, check it out here.

In response, Zipcar CEO Robin Chase penned a CityLab op-ed pointing the finger over traffic woes at car culture, not ride-hailing apps:

Cities have been congested and transit has been poorly used for years before these companies set up shop. [...] Taxis plus ride-hailing plus carsharing account for just 1.7 percent of miles traveled by urban dwellers, while travel by personal cars account for 86 percent. [...] Streets are congested and too few people choose mass transit now, like last year and the year before that and the year before that.

Uber spokesperson Matthew Wing told Curbed SF, “We wholeheartedly agree with several of Mr. Schaller’s proposed public policies.” But he called the study “fundamentally flawed in several areas,” arguing that ride-hailing trips increase mobility to areas underserved by public transit like small towns. 

Wing also said, “2018 has already dramatically changed the nature of our service,” emphasizing the company’s expansion into bikes and scooters.

Via email, Lyft spokesperson Campbell Matthews dubbed Schaller a “taxi cab consultant” (citing a Curbed SF story as the company’s source) and touted other studies, noting, “According to Inrix, congestion declined five percent in the Bay Area last year, even as Lyft trips increased 49 percent.”

Source : sf.curbed.com 

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2MadZ31
via IFTTT

In a bid to reduce the “rocketing” number of minicabs circulating within the congestion charge zone, Mayor Sadiq Khan said he may introduce tougher emission rules, limiting the type of private hire vehicles able to claim a 100 per cent discount on the £11.50 weekday charge next April. Not quite a promise.....more a threat!

Transport for London said if this were bought in, it could cut the number of minicabs in the zone by up to 45 per cent — from 18,000 to 10,000 — and raise about £115,000 a day. 

Black cabs will continue to be exempt from the C-charge as they can carry wheelchair users.

Taxi orgs must keep an eye on this issue as we don't want this to change suddenly in another "done deal".

The number of minicabs in central London, including Uber vehicles, has “rocketed” from 4,000 a day since the C-charge was introduced in 2003, TfL said. It blames the increasing popularity of Uber and the growth of home deliveries for causing congestion. 

Cutting the number of minicabs would reduce pollution and improve bus journey times, it added.

The new rules would require petrol and diesel minicabs to meet the EU’s “Euro 6” emission standards, emit no more than 75g/km of CO2 and be able to run for at least 20 miles in “zero emission” mode. TfL said about 10 per cent of minicabs that currently qualify for the discount would become ineligible. 

It is thought more modern versions of the Toyota Prius hybrid, used by many Uber drivers, already meet these standards and thus will continue to be exempt. Uber declined to comment.

However, the rules — which would be introduced alongside an ultra-low emission zone that will charge older polluting vehicles an extra £12.50 a day — would be tightened in 2021 so that only fully electric vehicles will get the discount.

TfL’s Alex Williams said: “It is only right we keep the discounts and exemptions for the scheme under review to make sure it continues to be effective.” 

Mr Khan wants 80 per cent of all trips to be made on foot, by bike or public transport by 2041.

Source : Standard 

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2LEkTld
via IFTTT

Solidarity : Striking Spanish Taxi Drivers Sleep Out As Blockade Reaches Seventh Day #HuelgaTaxis

Thousands of Licensed Taxi drivers across Spain have joined a strike against ride-hailing companies like Uber, demanding the government restrict their numbers.

The striking taxi drivers, some of whom have been camping out for many days, say the services threaten their livelihood and are putting thousands of jobs at risk.

As a result, they have blocked main roads in the capital, Madrid, and in Barcelona with their parked cars.

A meeting on Monday to attempt to end the strike failed to reach a deal.

Taxi unions want the government to enforce a law which requires just one ride-hailing licence for every 30 taxi licences.

According to Spanish newspaper El Pais, the government offered to give licensing powers to each of the regions during a four-hour meeting. This was rejected by taxi representatives, who say it would not fix the issue, but just pass it along.

The meeting is due to resume later on Monday in the hope of finding a resolution.

Union representatives said in a statement that "Uber and Cabify are putting the viability of the taxi sector and 130,000 jobs at risk", adding it "considers this unfair competition intolerable".

The strike began in Barcelona last Wednesday, after the Spanish government appealed against a ruling by the Barcelona authorities that limited the number of licences for taxi services booked by smartphone apps.

Madrid, Valencia, Bilbao and Seville are all following in Barcelona's footsteps and are calling their own stoppages, causing widespread disruption.

The strike is now trending on Twitter, with the hashtag "HuelgaTaxis" generating thousands of tweets, with people sharing pictures of the strikes in their areas

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2LD3Uj4
via IFTTT

TfL Hydrogen Bus Leak Closes The Aldwych

One of TfL’s Hydrogen Buses, on the RV1 rout, has today put thousands of people in danger. 

The bus was reported to be leaking Hydrogen gas, which is highly flammable and in certain cases can cause serious explosions. 

The Aldwych has had to be closed off to vehicles and pedestrians, adding greatly to London’s congestion, while engineers from the bus company try to deal with and clean up the problem. 

A few years ago, a Hydrogen Taxi Cab was hit by a bullet in a street in Las Vegas, both passenger and driver were killed in the explosion and subsequent fire. 

The authorities there immediately band vehicles from using this type of fuel.

In London Hydrogen busses first introduced under leasing agreement by Mayor Ken Livingston, are currently band from routs using underpasses and tunnels because of the risks. 

Emergency services should be well practised in gas leaks in this area after the massive gas leak that closed Charing Cross station in January this year, followed by another major leak in Covent Garden in April. 

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2AkwjFa
via IFTTT

Turns Out Uber Had Yet Another Secret Program To Thwart Police Raids: Report

Uber is currently facing as many as five criminal probes over various schemes from the company’s earlier years under former-CEO Travis Kalanick, but could face more legal scrutiny thanks to yet another secret program unveiled Thursday by Bloomberg.

The ride-hailing company, well-known for its reputation to flout regulations, had a practice of stymying police raids by using a remote system it created called Ripley. From early 2015 until late 2016, Ripley was deployed as many as two dozen times to thwart police raids in foreign countries and thereby shield evidence from authorities, Bloomberg reports, citing three unnamed people familiar with the program:

The Uber HQ team overseeing Ripley could remotely change passwords and otherwise lock up data on company-owned smartphones, laptops, and desktops as well as shut down the devices. This routine was initially called the unexpected visitor protocol. Employees aware of its existence eventually took to calling it Ripley, after Sigourney Weaver’s flamethrower-wielding hero in the Alien movies. The nickname was inspired by a Ripley line in Aliens, after the acid-blooded extraterrestrials easily best a squad of ground troops. “Nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”

Uber and other companies have reason to protect the kind of information it maintains, Bloomberg says, but the issue is that some employees “felt the program slowed investigations that were legally sound in the local offices’ jurisdictions.” And that could present yet another legal problem for the company.

Prosecutors may look at whether Uber obstructed law enforcement in a new light. “It’s a fine line,” says Albert Gidari, director of privacy at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet & Society. “What is going to determine which side of the line you’re on, between obstruction and properly protecting your business, is going to be things like your history, how the government has interacted with you.”

There’s been vague mentions of the program’s existence in the past—a former employee in 2016 detailed an episode from a Montreal police raid that showed how Ripley could work—but the massive scope of the program wasn’t known until Bloomberg’s story.

For its part, Uber told Bloomberg that, similar to “every company with offices around the world, we have security procedures in place to protect corporate and customer data,” Uber said in a statement. “When it comes to government investigations, it’s our policy to cooperate with all valid searches and requests for data.”

In a statement to Jalopnik, an Uber spokesperson described one use of this type of program: “For instance, if an employee loses their laptop, we have the ability to remotely log them out of Uber’s systems to prevent someone else from accessing private user data through that laptop.”

The existence of Ripley comes at a precarious moment for Uber. Later this month, a blockbuster trial between Google’s self-driving car unit, Waymo, and Uber kicks off. Waymo accused Uber in a lawsuit last year of using stolen tech files to advance its autonomous driving program. (Uber denies the claims.)

The FBI is also investigating Uber for spying on Lyft drivers, and the feds are also looking into Uber’s use of a secret program called Greyball that helped it undermine law enforcement officials investigating the company.

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT : 

Open questions to Mike 'on side' Brown

How many hits are there going to be before you revoke Uber's provisional licence under the one hit and your out system???

How many more rapists are we going to see jailed?

How many more assaults?

How many more drug deals?

How many more terrorist attacks?

Before you act Mike???

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2mYPn2B
via IFTTT

No entry! Backlash at plans to shut off Judd Street to cars

Residents warn polluting traffic will be diverted into residential streets by King's Cross changes

COUNCIL chiefs have been warned that shutting off one of the best-known roads in King’s Cross to cars and lorries will backfire, increasing pollution in side streets and sending traffic to an accident blackspot.

Camden is preparing to block off Judd Street – the road the Town Hall is on – to all traffic apart from cyclists, opening up a new front in the see-saw conflict between frustrated drivers behind the wheel of a car and those travelling through the borough on two wheels.

Black cab drivers have already raised concerns about the changes, while in reply the London Living Streets campaigners say Camden is right to prioritise access to pedestrians and cyclists over polluting vehicles.

But residents in King’s Cross and Bloomsbury insist they will be the big losers in the row, predicting that heavy traffic serving King’s Cross will be diverted into their streets, and then towards Dukes Road – the scene of a litany of "near-misses" and the death of Mark Welsh, a 55-year-old who was hit by a lorry turning left last year.

More than 60 residents were at a public meeting at the Lumen Church in Tavistock Place, called by the Bloomsbury Residents Action Group (BRAG), on Tuesday evening, Most raised concerns about a spiralling route that car drivers – and ambulance services – may be left with to get through the area. They also complained about what they say is a lack of meaningful consultation by the council, but said they feared being unfairly branded as anti-cyclist.

The row has echoes of the CS11 row in Swiss Cottage, where residents say attempts to improve safety for cyclists will only turn their roads into rat-runs. That dispute saw a placard confrontation between supporters and opponents of the new cycle superhighway outside Hampstead Theatre as rival demonstrations met head on.

Council leader Georgia Gould approved the Judd Street changes last month, but objectors have now resolved to try and persuade her to think again and undertake a new consultation survey on the proposals.

John Hartley, from London Living Streets, said the changes would "open up the area" to people who cycled, improving air quality, and John Chamberlain, of the Camden Cycling Campaign, said the scheme would be the "final missing link on the route from Kentish Town to Elephant and Castle", adding: "It will reduce traffic levels and therefore improve air quality in the area south of the Euston Road."

But Debbie Radcliffe, chairwoman of BRAG, said: "There is a persistent argument that the removal of motor traffic improves air quality. But the pollution doesn’t go away, it just moves somewhere else. And the more you slow traffic down, the more pollution levels increase."

She added: "We applaud the council’s transport policy to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists in the hierarchy of movement. But these same pedestrians and cyclists will be exposed to the increased pollution that is displaced elsewhere."

Ray Allesson, an RMT trade union officer representing the black cab trade, said access to Judd Street was "vitally important" because taxi drivers often ferry people between Bloomsbury’s hospitals, and the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

A council spokesman said: "The new space at the top of Judd Street will make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists to cross Euston Road. There will also be a new pedestrian crossing outside the British Library."

He added: "Anybody who has tried to cross Euston Road at Midland Road/Judd Street junction will know how difficult this road is to get across – this is a key reason for deciding to make these changes. This will also improve cycle links between Euston Road and central Camden by introducing raised cycle lanes along Midland Road."

Source : Camden Journal

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT : by @WalkbarLDN

Should Camden even be doing this with the Tavistock Place scheme discredited in its present form by Public Inquiry and awaiting Camden's proposals to resolve those issues?

The dynamic will no longer be the same.

This #EliteCapture by these articulate know-nothings is cult like.

from Taxi Leaks https://ift.tt/2K93hrT
via IFTTT