More options for seniors, Uber fights innovation and San Diego goes to war. LegalRideshare breaks it down.
UBER EXPANDS SENIOR RIDER OPTIONS
Uber is expanding options for seniors. Engadget reported:
No matter which of those choices an older rider takes, senior accounts now have a new settings page. It will allow them to set preferences including how a driver signals their arrival at pickup, a simple mode option with a more streamlined UI and an option to inform drivers of their notable identifiers such as use of a cane or walker.
Uber is also testing a new vehicle designation aimed at making rides more accessible both to seniors and to riders with limited mobility. During the pilot, a rider can opt to be assigned an Easy Entry Vehicle that doesn’t require a high step to embark. Any Uber user can request Easy Entry Vehicle from the Accessibility settings page. The pilot phase will be running in nine markets, although Uber did not specify where those markets are.
UBER FIGHTS INNOVATION
Uber is fighting innovation. The Orange County Register reported:
A decade ago, Uber was the definition of tech disruption. Former CEO Travis Kalanick used to talk about “principled confrontation” with municipal governments — basically, don’t ask permission and launch the product. Consumers loved it, of course, because it gave them more choices for daily transportation, and it required politicians in major metros to think twice before defaulting to protectionism in favor of rather archaic taxi medallion schemes.
Their New Jersey lobbyists have proposed rules requiring human drivers to provide at least 85% of rides during a three-year AV pilot program, and Uber has backed an outright ban on “robotaxis” in Washington, D.C. All of this, as an Atlanta driver union is pursuing a fee per AV ride to fund job transition programs for drivers. Riders will pay more.
Uber says it’s trying to protect workers and ensure a responsible transition to this new technology, but it’s easy to see that Uber is terrified of getting “Uber-ed” itself. It’s both ironic and typical.
Technological progress doesn’t stop just because a single company isn’t ready for it, and, frankly, resisting that tech makes companies like Uber worse in the long run. Consumers flocked to their service for convenience, not to make an altruistic statement about taxi unions. Once riders try autonomous vehicles, particularly riders who don’t feel safe in a car of any kind with a stranger, many never want to go back.
Innovate or become irrelevant. That’s the American economy in a nutshell. It’s understandable that Uber and other ridesharing companies are rattled by how quickly AVs have become safe and workable in major cities, but it’s another thing entirely to use union tactics and embrace an anti-consumer position about who gets to enter the marketplace.
SAN DIEGO PUSHES BACK AGAINST WAYMO
San Diego is pushing back against Waymo. NY Post reported:
The city council voted 8–0 on Monday to pass a resolution calling for control locally over robotaxis roaming the streets, after the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved Waymo’s application for the city outside of local authority, The Times of San Diego reported.
During the meeting, residents and several on council members expressed concerns self-driving cars in the city.
“This is definitely not an anti-technology resolution; it’s not an anti-innovation resolution; this is about people,” said councilmember Sean Elo Rivera.
The council voted to approve the resolution calling on Sacramento to give the city control of the vehicles, as well as granting fire departments and police the authority to “track, stop, or move empty vehicles during emergencies,” the Voice of San Diego reported.
The resolution would also prohibit driverless cars from being able to operate at the airport.
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