One is a bumpy, deafening and slightly nauseating way to get to John F. Kennedy Airport — the other is public transportation.
The Post put Uber’s new helicopter shuttle to JFK to the test, racing the car-sharing company and its chopper from Midtown to the hub against old-fashioned New York City Transit — which proved three minutes swifter at a sliver of the price.
Continue reading… “We pit the Uber Copter vs. public transit in a race to JFK — here’s who won”
Uber is making moves into the highly competitive world of online grocery deliveries with the acquisition of a startup called Cornershop. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will bolster the company’s efforts to expand into businesses outside its core ride-hailing service.
Cornershop, founded in 2015, is currently active in Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Canada, and it’s headquartered in Santiago. In a statement, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company would seek to “scale their vision, and look forward to working with them to bring grocery delivery to millions of consumers on the Uber platform.” That will mean eventually launching the service in the US, though the deal is still subject to regulatory approval.
The company has chosen Melbourne as its third test city.
Uber has chosen the third test city to join Dallas and Los Angeles for its flying taxi trials: Melbourne, Australia. The third location was supposed to be Dubai, but negotiations fell through and prompted the company to look for another site for trials outside the US. Uber considered Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paris, Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Tokyo and Sydney. In the end, Melbourne won.
Susan Anderson, Uber’s Regional General Manager for Australia, New Zealand and North Asia, told Reuters that it’s because the Australian government “adopted a forward-looking approach to ridesharing and future transport technology.” Melbourne, in particular, has a “unique demographic and geospatial factors, and culture of innovation and technology” that make it perfect for the trials.
Continue reading… “Uber will test its flying taxis in Melbourne”
Ride-hailing firm Uber has begun talks with the government to usher in a regulatory framework for flying taxis in the country, a top company executive told ET.
Uber has begun talks with the Indian government to push for flying taxis. Ride-hailing firm Uber has begun talks with the government to usher in a regulatory framework for flying taxis in the country.
Over the last one year, the San Francisco-based company has held conversations with regulators in India and met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said Nikhil Goel, head of product, aviation at Uber, in an interaction with ET on the sidelines of an Uber Elevate event here.
Continue reading… “Uber begins talks with Indian government to push for flying taxis”
Things that can lower your rating: being rude, leaving trash, drinking beer and vomiting.
Drivers and passengers now have to agree to Uber’s updated community guidelines before using the app.
Uber has long deactivated drivers who get low ratings. Now the ride-hailing company is turning the tables.
Uber announced Wednesday that those passengers who receive bad marks from drivers will be booted from the platform. But, Uber said, they’ll have to “develop a significantly below average rating.”
Continue reading… “Uber is now kicking low-rated passengers out of its cars”
Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and Deliveroo. These words are now part of our everyday lexicon.
With Lyft and Uber going public, we need to face facts about their business model
The gig economy has changed the world. I find it hard to remember when I didn’t see hundreds of delivery scooters zipping around the city near our office. Nor do I easily recall when it was unusual to see somebody happily getting into an unmarked car driven by someone they didn’t know. From Beijing to London to San Francisco, our cities are bisected 24 hours a day by the journeys of bicycle couriers, delivery mopeds, and taxi drivers.
Continue reading… “The Gig Economy’s unhappy middle class”
These flying cars want to take your commute to new heights
We were promised that the future would bring flying cars, right? We were. And the good news is that tech entrepreneurs around the world are finally getting started on creating what are commonly known as VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing, pronounced vee-toll) vehicles designed at car size.
Of course, no one is ready for flying cars quite yet. There’s no infrastructure to support them, and a whole new set of auto laws would have to be drawn up to regulate them (like personal drones, but a thousand times worse). The first commercial VTOLs we will see won’t be hanging out at the local auto dealer—they’ll be taxi services built to shuttle people from part of a city to another.
Here’s all the current projects that want to put you in the seat of a flying car.
Continue reading… “12 awesome flying cars and taxis currently in development”
In a Reversal, ‘Car-Rich’ Households Are Growing
Despite ride-hailing’s promise, vehicle ownership (and traffic) is on the rise in America’s biggest, most transit-oriented cities. So how is mobility really changing?
There is no doubt that ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft are remaking how people get around major American cities. The growing availability of shared bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters is further changing the personal mobility story. The transformation is partly personal, offering a wealth of options for getting around town. It’s also supposed to be societal, ameliorating clogged traffic and boosting transit ridership.
Continue reading… “Despite Uber and Lyft, urban car ownership is growing”
From a one-person flying car to a luxurious five seater, companies are racing to launch the first flying car.
LAS VEGAS — While CES attendees are still quite a few years away from being able to hop in a flying car and travel to the annual technology show, several concepts displayed at the 2019 event this week provided a glimpse of what the future could look like.
That starts with hailing an Uber copter — possibly as soon as the mid 2020s. At CES, Textron’s Bell division, a partner in the Uber Elevate flying car initiative, showed off its new air taxi concept called the Nexus.
While it may fly, make no mistake, the Nexus looks more like a car than an airplane. The concept uses six tilted fans to aid in takeoffs and landings, which are powered by a hybrid-electric propulsion system. Inside the vehicle, four passengers and a pilot can see their flight path projected onto a screen.
Uber has said it’s planning to roll out its air vehicles by 2023 in certain cities, targeting the Dallas-Fort Worth area and Los Angeles as its first domestic markets.
Continue reading… “Flying cars could take off as soon as 2023”
Uber has unveiled its “flying car” concept aircraft at its second annual Uber Elevate Summit, which showcases prototypes for its fleet of airborne taxis.
The flying cars, which the company hopes to introduce to riders in two to five years, will conduct vertical takeoffs and landings from skyports, air stations on rooftops or the ground. Ultimately, company officials say these skyports will be equipped to handle 200 takeoffs and landings an hour, or one every 24 seconds. At first, the flying cars will be piloted, but the company aims for the aircraft to fly autonomously.
Continue reading… “Uber shows its flying car prototype, which looks like a giant drone”
Didi suspended its ride-sharing service after a 21-year-old woman was murdered. Carlos Jasso/Reuters
Didi Chuxing, the Chinese ride-sharing giant, said it would remove creepy passenger ratings from its app after a woman was allegedly murdered by her driver.
Didi’s Hitch service lets people share rides, but was suspended last week after the murder.
Didi said it would also remove passenger photos and was even considering voice recording every trip to resolve passenger disputes.
The ride-sharing service has 450 million users, and has little competition after Didi acquired Uber’s Chinese business in 2016.
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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