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Today, Airbnb is revealing a new division tasked with inventing new futures for the company, called Samara. Airbnb is also unveiling Samara’s first project: a communal housing project designed to revitalize a small town in Japan. That model isn’t meant to be a one-off. After this project, Airbnb will look to scale it to other declining small towns across the world. The idea is that Airbnb could become a force not only in sharing homes, but in urban planning. — FastCo.Design
Airbnb's experiment in urban planning was sparked by the success of an elderly woman in a rural Japanese town, Tsuyama Okayama, who listed her home on the site. While near Japan's most famous cedar forests, the town didn't receive many tourists.But build it and they will come: soon, tourists... View full entry
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D), the senior Senator from Massachusetts, has co-signed a letter requesting that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate the degree to which short-term lodging services are composed of "persons or firms acting in a commercial manner by renting out entire... View full entry
City attorney Mike Feuer has filed criminal charges against Carol Jean Alsman, a local property owner, for allegedly forcing out tenants in rent-controlled units and then listing the units for rent on Airbnb. [...]
[Feuer’s] office has lodged civil complaints against three other Los Angeles property owners for allegedly using their buildings as illegal hotels [...]
“In a city with a profound shortage of affordable housing, unlawfully converting rental units to operate hotels has got to stop”
— qz.com
Related on Archinect:After allegations of racial discrimination and #AirbnbWhileBlack fallout, Airbnb looks inwardAirbnb invests in a blockchain futureAirbnb intentionally misconstrued data to "garner good press", according to new reportBarcelona plans shakedown scheme against unlicensed Airbnb... View full entry
Home-rental company Airbnb has “acqui-hired” the majority of the team behind ChangeCoin, a startup that runs a bitcoin-based micropayments service, according to four people with knowledge of the deal.
The alternative lodging site has been looking at a few bitcoin and blockchain startups, according to two sources, to study what the technology could do for its services.
— Quartz
Have you heard of bitcoin but still can't get your head around the technology behind them?Last fall, I sat down with FOAM, a "decentralized architecture office" that believes the blockchain may revolutionize architecture (and so much more). The interview frames a handy introduction to the... View full entry
Nationwide, Airbnb lists about 173,000 units, equal to about 3.5% of the more than 5 million rooms rented out by traditional hotels — not enough to pose a serious threat to the hospitality industry, according to a study by CBRE's hotel research arm. [...]
The study goes on to say that Airbnb properties have started to pressure hotels to keep rates low in a handful of cities where home-sharing units are plentiful, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and [New York].
— latimes.com
More from the short-term rental market:Airbnb intentionally misconstrued data to "garner good press", according to new reportAirbnb draws ire with passive-aggressive adsIkea and Airbnb: a match made in globalized heaven?Airbnb to collect taxes in ParisAirbnb rentals cut deep into San Francisco... View full entry
Metro is negotiating an agreement with Lyft aimed at learning more about ride-share trips that begin and end at key Metro stations [...]
The relationship would last at least a year and would give Metro a rare peek at data typically kept private. The deal, one of the first of its kind in the United States, would shed light on the role that ride-sharing plays in ... the so-called "first mile, last mile" gap [...]
In exchange for Lyft's data, Metro would advertise the service to its riders
— latimes.com
Lyft's recent advertising has also been flaunting its connection with public transit – ads all over the US depict the local city's rail map with branching pink veins, suggesting how Lyft can extend existing public transit infrastructure (even though you're still definitely in a stranger's... View full entry
In December, Airbnb released a trove of data that showed about 95 percent of its hosts in New York City were playing by the rules. But an independent report released Wednesday cast a shadow on that rosy picture, claiming that the company “misled the media and the public” by removing more than 1,000 listings from its site in November before making available the data
[...]
The report portrays the December release as a cynical attempt to garner good press...
— New York Times
“Airbnb continues to show a blatant disregard for New York laws designed to protect the rights of tenants and prevent the proliferation of illegal hotels," said Matt Mittenthal, a spokesman for New York’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman.For more on the "disruptive" influence of Airbnb... View full entry
When Airbnb put up ads suggesting various ways San Francisco could use the company’s tax payments, it was undoubtedly aiming to drum up good will.
“Dear Parking Enforcement,” one of the ads read, “Please use the $12 million in hotel taxes to feed all expired parking meters. Love, Airbnb.”
[...]
But instead of good will, the flippant tone of the ads, which went up on billboards and bus stops around the city on Wednesday, unleashed a torrent of sarcasm and anger on social media.
— NY Times
Last week, a deluge of anger and annoyance rained down on Airbnb after their new ad campaign popped up around San Francisco. Billboards plastered with phrases suggesting ways various government agencies could better use the roughly $1 million in taxes per month generated by the company were... View full entry
To promote the new Mad Max video game coming out at the start of September, Uber teamed up with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment this weekend to give fans in Seattle real rides in real Fury Road vehicles.
Through Monday (we know — not enough time, life isn't fair, etc.), those going to and from the city's PAX Prime gaming convention will have the chance to nab a varied set of postapocalyptic chariots that seat either one, three, or four other riders.
— Vulture
The rules are simple:Trips must begin and stay within downtown Seattle. The Wasteland is vast and gas is precious — the Warboys must remain near their Stronghold.Your dollars are worthless in the Wasteland. Payment shall not be required.Here's a look at some of the cars helping to bring new... View full entry
After imposing taxes on units in Amsterdam, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco and elsewhere, “home-sharing” facilitator Airbnb will now begin collecting taxes in Paris, the company’s biggest market.
Collection officially begins October 1st and some see the move as Airbnb’s attempt at playing nice with city regulators. Venture Beat connects the change to Uber’s troubles in Paris, where the ride service company fought new regulation policies.
— nextcity.org
The recent debate between Uber and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio over whether the ride-for-hire company was exacerbating Manhattan congestion was fueled by incomplete, misleading data. There was no way of knowing exactly where Uber cars and taxis pick up passengers, and so the city agreed to a study of Uber’s effects last month as part of its detente with the company.
Now, thanks in part to a Freedom of Information Law request, we have data. A lot of data...
— FiveThirtyEight
The folks over at FiveThirtyEight processed a nearly-overwhelming amount of data on Uber usage in New York City and got some pretty interesting (if not entirely surprising) results. At the top of the list, their research verifies the ride-share company's claims that their doing a better job in... View full entry
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...
— Tech Crunch
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... View full entry
French taxi drivers pulled out the throttle in an all-out confrontation with the ultra-cheap Uber car service Thursday, smashing livery cars, setting tires ablaze and blocking traffic during a nationwide strike that caught tourists and celebrities alike in the mayhem. — washingtonpost.com
Parisian taxi drivers have taken to the streets, smashing cars and burning tires to protest UberPop, a budget iteration of the car-sharing service akin to UberX in the States. Traffic came to a stop in the French capital, with reports of stranded travelers walking along the highway with luggage... View full entry
Airbnb is sailing a full-size floating house along the Thames this week to celebrate new rules to support home sharing in London.
The publicity stunt follows the passing of the Deregulation Act last month, which means Londoners are now free to rent their homes for up to 90 days a year without risk of fines or having to secure planning permission before doing so.
— theguardian.com
For more information and your chance to stay in the floating house click here. View full entry
According to the terms of the proposed draft order, every taxi in Los Angeles would have to become accessible via a mobile application similar to the ones used by Uber and Lyft. These applications will require certification by the Taxi Commission, which can then specify things like pricing maximums and limits on hours worked in a single shift, and can perhaps even set up a rating and complaint system for passengers. — the New Yorker
