Harry here. On Thursday, I moderated a panel on The Future of Transportation in Downtown LA – an event hosted by Start-ups in the Sky. It was an interesting discussion and a lot of the conversation revolved around how start-ups and businesses can work together to improve transportation for everyone. I was disappointed to learn that the first Hyperloop will probably happen outside of the US, but that’s one of the big downsides of regulation. While start-ups tend to want as little regulation as possible, and legislators want as much as possible, it seems like a healthy balance of the two is the best scenario for the workers in the on demand economy.
Today, RSG contributor John Ince touches on the theme of regulation and updates us on the latest with the Uber employee lawsuit settlement, and some reaction out of Austin over Uber/Lyft’s recent ban. Make sure you also check out the preview for Ryan Gosling’s new Uber driver film 😉
Named Uber Plaintiff Says He’s Pulling Out of Suit
Sum and Substance: The Uber driver whose name is on a lawsuit for an up-to $100 million settlement now says he’s pulling out.
Douglas O’Connor, who is the O’Connor in the O’Connor v. Uber Technologies Inc. class action suit, filed documents Monday objecting to the settlement with the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company. “I am compelled to submit this declaration objecting to the class action settlement on behalf of myself and on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of other Uber Drivers in the State of California — and throughout the Country — who were at first given hope and a voice by the lawsuit bearing my name but now feel utterly betrayed and sold-out by an unjust settlement result that only benefits Uber,” O’Connor’s declaration said.
O’Connor’s objection states that he was pressured to quickly sign the 100-page settlement document and that he feels it shortchanged Uber drivers by not dealing directly with whether they should be classified as employees. In an email to USA TODAY, Liss-Riordan said that O’Conner’s statements were untrue and that he was not one of the appointed class representatives in the class action suit.
My Take: This is one of several articles this week questioning the wisdom of the $100 million settlement agreed to by Shannon Liss-Riordan. We’ve been over this territory before. One of the new curiosities surfacing here, however, is Liss-Riordan’s assertion that O’Connor was not one of the “appointed class representatives” in the class action suit. Her statement is beyond me. That’s his name on the lawsuit. Then again, I’m not a lawyer.
This spoof trailer for a Drive sequel where Ryan Gosling’s character works for Uber is pure genius
Sum and Substance: Who knew that the sequel to Ryan Gosling’s 2011 art-house thriller Drive would come in the form of a moving expose of the trials and tribulations of Uber drivers? Well, this hilarious spoof trailer for Drive 2: The Uber Years imagines just that – with Gosling’s anonymous Driver character ditching his job of assisting robberies to work for the global cab company. It wouldn’t work unless the actor playing Gosling here, Joey Thompson, didn’t look almost exactly like the 35-year-old heartthrob – which, if you ask us, he really does. It turns out a life of road-based crime is a walk in the park compared to taking drunk revelers home, paying for your own petrol [gas] and earning ‘less than minimum wage’.
Highlights include seeing the Driver choosing between two car air fresheners, sleeping in his car and ringing up a customer who’s late to come down for their cab. Perhaps if he sees this, Ryan will encourage Drive’s Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn to start work on a black comedy sequel – or he may fund a documentary looking into the lives of exploited Uber drivers. Who knows.
My Take: Take all your wild experiences as an Uber driver, thrown in a girlfriend, a personal narrative and presto – you’ve got the ultimate Uber flick trailer. Seriously, I’m totally in on this. Can’t wait till it comes out… which unfortunately is going to be a very long wait since this is just a spoof. But almost half a million people have seen the trailer. Watch it on YouTube here.
Many downtown goers left stranded after first weekend without Uber and Lyft
Sum and Substance: Reality sets in for many downtown goers for the first weekend without Uber and Lyft. Many were stranded Friday night, not able to get rides. Katrina Anscerom is one of those people, ”I am a young adult in Austin, I love going down to 6th, West 6th Street, East 6th Street, and I’ve depended on rides to get home from Uber and Lyft. It really upsets me because I love going downtown,” she said. Anscerom said she tried to use a different ridesharing service, but wasn’t successful. “First time they canceled on us and said they were not able to fulfill our request. The second time we talked on the phone with the guy and he was like ‘I know where you are but I can’t get you.’” A taxi cab was too expensive for her, “I am a youngen, I just graduated from college, I don’t have very good income, like I just have no savings,” she said.
Many have been lashing out at local politicians. “It’s so disappointing to see some people in the community sending such ugly emails and tweets,” City Council Member Ann Kitchen said. She also added it’s disappointing Uber and Lyft chose to leave and did so quickly. “We are all trying to pull together to help drivers and riders because these companies have left us all in a lurch,” she said. For Anscerom, she said she had to make a very unwanted phone call. “My mother is coming to pick us up tonight, so I feel really bad calling her, but we really had no other option,” she said.
My Take: This is the obligatory story on how difficult it is for Austin, Texas residents to navigate in a post-Uber, post-Lyft world. Somehow Fox News located a few hapless souls and got them to speak about all the incredible hardships they have suffered in the wake of Uber’s and Lyft’s suspension of service. It truly amazes me how, in just five years, some people have become so dependent on ridesharing that they’re helpless to develop a plan B. Talk about first world problems. If you’re Katrina’s mom when you get the call that she needs a ride home, what is your reaction?
Google-Owned Waze Gets In The Ride-Hail Game, Launches New Carpooling App
Sum and Substance: Google just fired a rather loud shot across the bow of both Uber and Lyft. With the release of Waze Rider, the Google-owned Waze has its eye on a significant portion of ride-hail passengers: those catching rides to and from work.
The app coordinates carpools and, according to the Chronicle, allows individuals to request free rides or agree to pay the IRS recommended per-mile reimbursement rate of 54 cents — a rate that would significantly undercut both Uber and Lyft. Lyft charges $1.16 per mile in SF (plus other assorted fees), and Uber charges $1.15 per mile (also plus other fees).
Waze Rider is at present only available in the (San Francisco) Bay Area, but will likely expand to other cities around the country should the initial launch be considered successful. Although the app is in a “pilot” phase right now, supposedly only available to pre-approved employees of specific companies, this reporter was able to download it via Apple’s app store and create a full account with the option to start getting rides today. Imagine using this to get a ride to the airport — sure, you’d end up in long-term parking instead of right at the terminal, but your ride would be around $7.00. In other words, even less than BART. At present, Waze Rider does not charge a fee or take a percentage of the transaction. That could of course change in the future.
My Take: Google is, for the moment, taking baby steps in the ridehailing space through their Tel Aviv based subsidiary Waze. This controlled experiment in carpooling seems to have all the right stuff going for it. They’ve even set rates at 54 cents a mile, which gets rid of the possible insurance issue for drivers because it qualifies as a non-profit under insurance guidelines, which can be covered under existing policies. That feature alone makes it difficult to scale this into a direct competitor with Uber and Lyft – unless Google has a longer term solution in mind. Give Google err … Waze … err Alphabet credit … they test things out really well before rolling them out – witness their deliberate patient approach with driverless cars. Oh, but that’s another story.
I loved Uber as a passenger. Then I started working as a driver
Sum and Substance: Since debuting in 2012, rideshare services Uber and Lyft have nearly obliterated demand for Los Angeles taxis. Cab drivers who once took home $800 a week are now making half that amount. Still, there’s little sympathy. Taxis are too expensive, their drivers too rude, their cars too smelly, their arrival too unreliable. “Adapt or die,” passengers say.
I was chief among them. I recently spent two years here without a car, during which I relied on two or three rideshares a day. It’s easy to see the appeal of Uber and Lyft, which provide a comfortable, friendly and — most importantly— inexpensive ride. A mid-afternoon Uber Pool from Silver Lake to my ex’s place in Westchester took a quarter of the time of public transit and cost a third of a taxi fare.
As a passenger, I enjoyed talking with drivers and relished saving money on car payments, gas and insurance. I often said that if I owned a car, I’d definitely be an Uber driver because it seemed like so much fun. That is, until I actually tried it.
I financed a sky-blue Hyundai. I signed up as an Uber driver first, and added Lyft later. I scoured The Rideshare Guy blog for tips and tricks. I bought phone chargers and auxiliary cables — all the things I’d appreciated as a passenger.
Yet, after just a few days on the road, I was baffled by how exactly drivers could be clearing a cool grand a week. On my third day behind the wheel, I sat in the car for 11 hours, drove for seven of them, and grossed $118 before deducting the cost of gas, wear and tear, rideshare insurance and income tax.
My Take: The author isn’t telling us drivers anything we don’t already know, but somehow it’s reassuring to have all of it in print in one of the nation’s largest newspapers – so that some passengers, at least, might understand our situation a little better.
Uber trialing in-app phone support for drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area
Sum and Substance: Uber is continuing to figure out the best way to provide sound customer service to its drivers. The private on-demand car service announced today that it’s trialing in-app phone support for drivers within the San Francisco Bay Area.
Michael Mizrahi, the company’s global community operations lead, believes that this program will be welcome by drivers: “Partners would love to get in touch with Uber on the phone.” Within the help section of their Uber app, drivers will see all the standard topics with information provided. But in the top right-hand corner of the screen, there will also be a phone icon that, when tapped, will connect drivers to an Uber hotline.
Just like you’d expect with an interactive voice response (IVR) system — similar to those used by Comcast or a bank — drivers will hear options, such as lost items, payment questions, missed tolls, and more. The launch of this pilot program comes as the company continues to put more resources into developing its partner app to make it more useful to drivers.
Right now, in-app phone support is limited to the more than 40,000 active drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area, and even then, it’ll be rolling out slowly over the next couple of months. “We’re doing it slowly to understand the volume and type of questions we’ll get,” Sheppard explained. There are currently no plans to extend this option to riders — they will still be limited to submitting feedback and complaints through the company’s mobile app.
My Take: This is a thin story, based largely, I suspect, on an Uber press release. But it does show Uber is at least giving some thought to some kind of direct phone contact for drivers. Lyft has long had an emergency line for drivers, while Uber has just tells drivers to call 911. Hey, guess what. I just got an email message saying Uber phone support is now live in my area. Whoa?
Readers, what do you think of this week’s round up? What did you think of the Drive 2 spoof?
– John @ RSG
