ridesharing

Uber Drivers in California Will Be Employees, Not Contractors (Updated)

An Uber driver is an employee, not a contractor, according to a ruling from the California labor commission. This is horrible news for Uber but good news for anyone concerned that the ruthless ride-hailing service is building a corporate empire by dicking over its drivers. Uber insists that it’s a merely a tech company peddling…

Uber’s Raising a Billion Dollars to Make China its Largest Global Market

China’s gobbling Uber up. And it’s about to see a lot more of the black cab ride-hailing service, according to a letter leaked to The Financial Times last Thursday, in which Uber CEO Travis Kalanick revealed his intentions to raise over a billion dollars to expand UberChina. Uber is still dwarfed in China by competitor…

NYC taxi medallion prices have fallen almost 25% since last year

The New York Times’ Upshot blog reports that regular New York City taxi medallion prices have fallen about 23 percent since last year’s peak. A medallion now sets taxi drivers back about $805,000. Why are prices plunging? Uber. Well, probably. New York City, like other major cities, regulates the number of taxis allowed on the…

Will Uber’s Latest Scandal Finally Make People Worry About Big Data?

For years, people have warned about corporations collecting your personal data. But no matter how much people insist that Google knows too much about you, we’re willing to sacrifice privacy for convenience. Could the latest revelations about Uber finally get people angry enough to do something about rampant data collection? Top image: Uber HQ, via…

Check out this excellent in depth exploration of the world of “ridesharing” and Lyft, the AirBnB of taxi services. Turns out it’s not all wine and roses when people stop being polite and start being livery cabs.