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Business & Tech

San Francisco Could Soon Become a Free-for-All of Self-Driving Taxis

You may already think there are too many self-driving robocars on the streets of SF, roaming creepily around with names like "Mocha" and "Juice." But the cars are actually pretty restricted in what they can do and where they can go right now. That may soon change.

Business & Tech

Appeals Court Upholds Prop. 22 Gig Worker Law, But It’s Still Likely Headed To State Supreme Court

A big win for Uber and Lyft to not treat their drivers as employees, as a state appeals court has upheld the Prop. 22 law exempting rideshare companies from minimum wage and overtime rules, but this thing’s expected to go to the state Supreme Court.

Business & Tech

Uber and Lyft Drivers Are Being Carjacked and Thieves Are Then Robbing Passengers They Pick Up

Another thing to fear in your late-night ride! Uber and Lyft are cooperating with an investigation that's happening in Baltimore into a series of carjackings of rideshare drivers that subsequently turn into robberies of rideshare riders.

Business & Tech

Flywheel Taxicabs Are Now on the Uber App in San Francisco

Uber’s long war on the taxicab industry has ended with a whimper and a merger, as Flywheel cabs are now incorporated into the Uber fleet, in a pilot that’s starting here in SF and hopes to fly nationwide.

Business & Tech

Have You Had a Lot of Uber Drivers Cancel Trips On You Recently, Or Refuse to Take You Somewhere? Are You a Driver? We'd Like to Hear From You

Rideshare services, while still private companies with their own profit motives and foibles, have become like utilities we take for granted. But the days of quick and easy Uber rides seem to be gone since the pandemic.

Female Lyft Driver Describes Harrowing Encounter With Passenger, Fleeing Onto Freeway

A Lyft driver in San Jose says she was forcibly grabbed from behind by an aggressive passenger, which led to her swerving dangerously while going 70 miles per hour and pulling off a busy freeway.

Business & Tech

More Sexual Assault Problems at Uber, as 550 Women File Civil Suit Alleging Sexual Misconduct by Drivers

A new suit just filed in SF County Superior Court has 550 women claiming they were “kidnapped, sexually assaulted, sexually battered, raped, falsely imprisoned, stalked, harassed, or otherwise attacked” by their Uber drivers, and the law firm claims another 150 more women may join the suit.

Business & Tech

Uber To Gouge You With New Gas Price Fee Now That The Oil Industry Is Gouging You

They’re calling the new fee “temporary fuel assistance for drivers,” but whatever the name, starting Wednesday you will be paying anywhere between 35 and 55 cents extra for any Uber ride or Uber Eats order.

Business & Tech

State Grants First Permits to Waymo and Cruise For Paid Self-Driving Taxi Service

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has granted its first, semi-full permits to Alphabet-owned Waymo and General Motors-owned Cruise to provide autonomous-vehicle taxi service to paid passengers.

Business & Tech

SF Joins Legal Inquiry Into Uber for Allegedly Discriminating Against Trans, Non-Binary Drivers

San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego city attorneys are all digging into Uber’s alleged discriminatory practices with trans and non-binary people who try to sign up for the platform, because the bots feel their names and faces do not adequately match their driver's licenses.

Business & Tech

Feds Sue Uber Over 'Wait Time' Fees Which They Say Discriminate Against the Disabled

The Department of Justice has filed suit against Uber over the company's practice of charging fees when drivers have to wait more than two minutes for a passenger to get in their vehicle.

Pride Revelers Beware: Muni Shuts Early, Uber and Lyft Rides Are Going to Be Expensive

You may want to strap on some good walking shoes if you're planning to party-hop during this late-pandemic Pride Weekend in San Francisco, because things aren't exactly back to normal with public transportation or the world of rideshares.

Business & Tech

Vallejo Woman Sues Lyft Over Alleged Kidnapping By Driver With Meth Pipe

A Vallejo woman has filed suit against Lyft over an April 2019 ride gone wrong in which she had to climb out of the car's window to escape a creepy driver.

Election Limbo Headlines: Uber and Lyft Get Their Wish, Prop 22 Passes

The dialysis regulation measure Prop 23 appears to be going down, Mark Kelly beat Martha McSally for the Arizona Senate seat, and as promised Facebook and Twitter flagged Trump's false claims about winning the election and the Democrats trying to "steal" it.

Business & Tech

As California Labor Case Heads For Appeal, Uber Says It May Halt Operations In State

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi gave an interview on MSNBC Wednesday morning saying that the company would likely have to shut down operations in California for at least several months if it is forced to make all its drivers employees.

Business & Tech

Uber Lays Off Another 3,000 Workers, Bringing This Round to 6,700

Twelve days after announcing the slashing of 3,700 jobs, Uber says it is laying off another 3,000 workers and closing one of its San Francisco offices entirely.

Business & Tech

Uber Lays Off 3,700 Workers In Customer Support and Recruiting

Following on big layoff announcements in recent days by Airbnb and Lyft, Uber announced Wednesday that it is letting go of 3,700 employees due to the pandemic lockdown.

Business & Tech

Lyft Is Laying Off Nearly 1,000 Workers, Furloughing 300 More

Lyft just announced that it will lay off 17 percent of its workforce, or 982 people, in order to address losses that it faces due to pandemic lockdowns. And employees say they were mistakenly all sent an email earlier this week using an insensitive name for the cost-cutting project.

Business & Tech

Uber and Lyft Suspend Pool Options for Social Distancing; Uber Expands Paid Sick Leave for Drivers

We're going to be hearing a lot of stories in the coming weeks about how industries are facing the COVID-19 pandemic and feeling its vast, unknowable economic impacts.

Business & Tech

Gig Workers Uniquely Vulnerable to Coronavirus, No Employee Protections in Place

Many on-demand delivery companies are cleaning up as the shut-in economy surges, but the rideshare industry is taking a hit, and gig workers are forced to put in extra work under high-risk conditions.

Business & Tech

Uber Inadvertently Disables 'Small Number' of Accounts With Cash Balances

A complaint arrived from an SFist reader this week who found that his Uber account had suddenly been disabled while he was traveling in Hawaii. To make matters worse, he had an Uber Cash balance on the account of over $1,400.

Business & Tech

Prepare for Ubers to Start Rejecting More Trips As AB5-Related Changes Roll Out

After a new state law just took effect with the intention of protecting gig-economy workers, Uber is taking the position, temporarily, that it just has to make some changes to its driver-side app to comply with the law. And those changes are likely to impact riders across the board.

Business & Tech

Uber and Postmates Join Forces To Seek Injunction In Gig-Worker Law AB-5

The two local app-based companies that rely on contract drivers are challenging a new California law that is set to go into effect on January 1, and which poses an existential threat to the so-called "gig economy."

Business & Tech

Uber Riders Tell Harrowing Story Of Feeling Kidnapped By Driver In Oakland

A mistake by an Alaska Airlines gate agent and a very angry Uber driver led to a 911 call and a kidnapping story fit for local news — not to mention a fresh bit of bad PR for Uber.

Business & Tech

Lyft Is Being Sued By 20 Victims In Second Sexual-Assault Suit

A second lawsuit was filed Wednesday against Lyft in a case involving 20 cases of sexual assault involving drivers. And this suit joins a separate one filed in September by the same law firm that covers 14 other cases of assault.