Archinect - News

What it means to add 20,000 Waymo self-driving robot taxis to America's roads

2018-04-03T18:19:00-04:00

On Tuesday, Waymo announced they’d purchase 20,000 sporty, electric self-driving vehicles from Jaguar for the company’s forthcoming ride-hailing service. [...] They estimate that the Jaguar fleet alone will be capable of doing a million trips each day in 2020. [...] if Waymo is even within 50 percent of that number in two years, the United States will have entered an entirely new phase in robotics and technology.

In his piece for The Atlantic, Alexis C. Madrigal looks beyond the technological and economic implications of Waymo's latest announcement to add 20,000 electric self-driving Jaguar I-Pace SUVs to its rapidly growing ride-hailing fleet by 2020 and instead think about the social (how comfortable/uncomfortable will we be around so many robots?), legal (what if a city wants to declare itself a "robocar-free zone"?), and urban planning effects (how will infrastructure redevelopment change our existing cities in the 21st century?).

New York's iconic yellow cabs are slowly disappearing from city streets — and Uber is cashing in

2017-10-13T15:12:00-04:00

What seemed inevitable for quite some time now, has finally come to pass; Uber has overtaken yellow cabs in average daily ridership figures, the New York Times reports. This past July, Uber witnessed an average of 289,000 rides per day, whereas yellow cabs only managed 277,000.

More than half of Uber's rides start outside of Manhattan. Yellow and green cabs are not as accessible in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island and users prefer Uber and other ride-share apps. The company capitalized on this market by offering borough-specific promotions and moved its support and recruitment center outside of Manhattan.

The story behind Didi, China's "Uber Slayer"

2016-10-06T18:41:00-04:00

In August, after a multibillion-dollar, year-and-a-half-long battle, Uber agreed to sell its business in China and depart the country. It was a face-saving retreat for Uber, which got a 17.7 percent ownership stake in Didi and $1 billion in cash. [...] Investors recently valued Didi at $35 billion, making it one of the most valuable private companies in the world. Uber, with operations in almost 500 cities on six continents, is worth $68 billion.

Uber and the future of on-demand public transit

2016-09-01T13:25:00-04:00

Martz’s proposal would make the suburb of Altamonte an unlikely test bed for one future of public transit. It would also raise questions about whether such a future can serve everyone equally, and force Martz to navigate between the transparency of public office and the demands of a multibillion dollar company with a penchant for secrecy. [...] for some transit advocates, the embrace of Uber and its competitors risks undermining civic ideals of accessibility and transparency.

More on the contentious ride-sharing giant:

New study finds ride-sharing apps like Lyft and Uber have no effect on drunk-driving fatalities

2016-08-02T17:43:00-04:00

The introduction of ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft hasn't had any impact on the number of fatalities related to drunken driving, a newly published study finds. Researchers at the University of Southern California and Oxford University looked at the 100 most populated metropolitan areas, analyzing data from before and after the introduction of Uber and its competitors, and found that access to ride-sharing apps had no effect on traffic fatalities related to drinking alcohol.

Uber has claimed previously that its services help decrease instances of drunk-driving, by providing an easy alternative to inebriated drivers. Uber cites a study it did with MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, that found "anecdotal evidence" in line with this popular belief, as well as a report by Temple University that pointed to "a correlation between decreased alcohol-related driving fatalities and the introduction of Uber services in California."

Temple University's report didn't control for other variables that could have affected the rate of drunk-driving fatalities, and was focused in California. The takeaway from the USC/Oxford study seems to be that ride-sharing services like Uber or Lyft do not necessarily help curb drunk-driving incidents any more than taxis, when all such services are just as accessible.

Google launches Waze Carpool with cost-neutral pricing

2016-05-26T18:46:00-04:00

The pilot program is limited to about 25,000 employees of companies including Walmart and Adobe Systems... Waze will match riders with drivers already heading along similar routes during the morning and evening rush hours. [...] Waze Carpool is charging riders just $0.54 a mile, which is also what the IRS recommends companies reimburse their employees per mile for business-related travel. “Waze Carpool focuses on covering costs, not generating an income,” the company explains.

Google purchased Waze, the Israeli GPS-based navigation system with real-time travel details submitted by users, in 2013 for $1.15B. With a fleet of already operating autonomous vehicles, Google stands to leverage its Waze transit data in big ways for an autonomous taxi service that could hit companies like Uber and Lyft hard.

That $0.54 rate for the Carpool rides is also significant because it won't lead to the same insurance-scrutiny that has plagued other ridesharing companies:

Waze Carpool’s $0.54 rate is also important from a regulatory standpoint. As Waze explains, car insurance policies in states including California typically cover “not for profit, share-the-expense carpooling.” By framing its operations that way, Waze Carpool may be able to avoid the scrutiny around insurance coverage that has at times sidelined Uber and Lyft.

Related on Archinect:

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:

Kalasatama, Finland goes carless (and yes, there's an app for that)

2016-03-17T14:21:00-04:00

Abandoned commercial port turned progressive inner city district of Helsinki Kalasatama is being developed purposefully to test out new urban ways of being. First up for this pioneering zone: a Mobility-as-a-Service app, which is basically the Nordic version of Uber except it wants to integrate all forms of public transit into one app. It's currently being tested by fifteen car-free citizens with the hope of making the entire district a non-vehicular-ownership zone by 2030.

Next up for the district, according to a press release: "a sharing economy app that allows residents to trade services; apps developed from data produced by sensors for remote monitoring of street waste containers; and novel sensors that monitor the expiration of foods, intended to reduce food waste." The more residents who want to participate in these test programs, the better: although the current population is hovering around 2,000, city leaders expect it to grow to 20,000 in the next fourteen years.

Uber faces suspension and $7.3M fine in California

2015-07-16T13:07:00-04:00

an administrative judge recommended that the ride-sharing giant be fined $7.3 million and be suspended from operating in California. [...] Uber has not complied with state laws designed to ensure that drivers are doling out rides fairly to all passengers, regardless of where they live or who they are.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the crux of this decision comes not from questions of the ride-sharing app's legality in general, but its ethical practices in actual transit. In 2013, "ride-hailing firms" were made legal in California, with the requirement that companies like Uber provide data about a ride's fairness, that services are provided "regardless of where they live or who they are". The judge's ruling states that Uber hasn't been providing the necessary data, including "the number of requests for rides from people with service animals or wheelchairs; how many such rides were completed; and other ride-logging information".

Uber will appeal, and the $7.3M fine and suspension can't be instated until that process is over. The company asserts its position of not having to hand over any additional data.

Worldwide, Uber in particular has courted controversy, inciting riots in Paris recently. But the home-state ruling for the company could hit harder.

More Uber news:

Two Uber exec...