Archinect - News

Pittsburgh disappointed with Uber's self-driving car experiment

2017-05-23T11:58:00-04:00

When Uber picked this former Rust Belt town as the inaugural city for its driverless car experiment, Pittsburgh played the consummate host. [...] Nine months later, Pittsburgh residents and officials say Uber has not lived up to its end of the bargain. [...] The deteriorating relationship between Pittsburgh and Uber offers a cautionary tale, especially as other cities consider rolling out driverless car trials from Uber, Alphabet’s Waymo and others.

"Starting later this month," wrote Bloomberg less than one year ago, "Uber will allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones, crossing an important milestone that no automotive or technology company has yet achieved." Since then, Pittsburgh appears to have fallen out of love with the ride-sharing giant's promises for the city.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Foxx on the future of transportation: "We had to do something different."

2016-10-28T13:49:00-04:00

Car and Driver caught up with Foxx in Pittsburgh. The DOT chief, previously mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, reflected on the promise of autonomous and connected cars, the recent Smart City Challenge, the massive increase in traffic deaths, the potential of the shared vehicles unfolding right outside the window, and more. What follows is a transcript of our conversation, lightly edited for grammar and brevity.

Uber takes to the skies with a new advertising strategy in Mexico DF

2016-10-17T18:45:00-04:00

Mexico City is notorious for its gridlock (and the smog it produces). The ride-sharing platform Uber has taken advantage of this captive audience with an unusual advertising medium: drones.

As reported by Bloomberg, Uber has sent off a fleet of sign-bearing drones to hover over windshields. “Driving by yourself?” asks one in Spanish. “That’s why you can never see the volcanoes.”

Mexico City represents Uber’s biggest market, so the unique (and aggressive) advertising strategy makes some sense. No word yet on any drone-provoked fender benders.

For more on Uber and its influence on cities, follow these links:

Uber lets you hail its self-driving cars in Pittsburgh later this month

2016-08-19T14:54:00-04:00

Starting later this month, Uber will allow customers in downtown Pittsburgh to summon self-driving cars from their phones, crossing an important milestone that no automotive or technology company has yet achieved. Google, widely regarded as the leader in the field, has been testing its fleet for several years, and Tesla Motors offers Autopilot [...] But none of these companies has yet brought a self-driving car-sharing service to market.

Related stories recently in the Archinect news:

Women-only Uber alternatives face pushback from antidiscrimination laws

2016-03-30T17:04:00-04:00

Civil rights lawyers say the new service being touted by local entrepreneurs, Chariot for Women, would probably conflict with Massachusetts’ antidiscrimination laws. [...] safety of female passengers has dogged Uber and Lyft Inc. and regulators around the country are debating new requirements for ride-hailing services that include [a] background check [...] SheTaxis, or SheRides, faced questions from regulators in 2014 when it launched an app that connects female passengers with women drivers.

More on the technology and ethics of ride-sharing:

Two Uber executives detained in France

2015-06-29T13:06:00-04:00

Uber France CEO Thibaud Simphal and Uber Europe GM Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty were both taken into custody today in Paris [...] The two executives were charged with two different allegations. First, according to them, Uber is running illegal taxi operations. Uber has been struggling with this charge in many countries, starting with the U.S. Second, the police said that Uber France is concealing digital documents...

After protests last week turned violent, French authorities have detained two executives of the ride-sharing company Uber, although officials stated that they were brought into custody on charges unrelated to the protests. Uber is facing ferocious criticism in France, with taxi-drivers complaining that drivers for UberPOP don't have professional licenses and don't pay the same taxes as traditional car services. The conflict highlights tensions in France, a country with a long tradition of hard-fought labor rights, as it grapples with new technologies and economic models.

Last week's rioting, which resulted in 70 damaged cars, gained international attention in part due to tweets from Courtney Love, who found herself at the center of the melée, and sparked a lively discussion on Archinect.

The conversation oriented around issues of technological disruption, bureaucratic regulation and workers' rights, with some, like jla-x, drawing comparisons to architecture.

Donna Sink asked: "the co...