San Francisco has formally requested state regulators redo an August hearing that expanded robotaxi permits for Cruise and Waymo, giving both companies permission to widen commercial operations throughout the city 24/7. The contentious decision was met with much opposition as city agencies and residents questioned the far-reaching impact of the expansions. The permits provide no… Continue reading San Francisco requests redo on Cruise, Waymo robotaxi expansion hearing
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Lyft’s newest feature could convince more women to drive for the ride-hailing app
Lyft rolled out a new feature Tuesday in five U.S. cities including Chicago and San Francisco that lets women and nonbinary drivers set a preference for picking up only women riders. The preference feature, called Women+ Connect, could help Lyft attract more women drivers to the app, which today stands at about 23%. The move… Continue reading Lyft’s newest feature could convince more women to drive for the ride-hailing app
The question of gig worker status in Massachusetts is back on
A year ago, a Massachusetts court ruled to throw out a 2022 proposed ballot measure that sought to define gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Now it appears that proposal is getting a second wind. The state’s attorney general, Andrea Campbell, on Wednesday approved backers of the ballot measure to begin collecting the… Continue reading The question of gig worker status in Massachusetts is back on
Protestors rally at Cruise HQ in San Francisco
Protestors gathered Monday outside Cruise’s headquarters in San Francisco after reports of one of its robotaxis blocking an ambulance with a patient on board who later died. The incident, which the San Francisco Fire Department reported last week, happened on August 14, when a driver hit a pedestrian in the city around 11 p.m. The… Continue reading Protestors rally at Cruise HQ in San Francisco
Cruise is bringing its robotaxis to Seattle and Washington, DC
Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, said Monday it has begun manual data collection in Seattle and Washington, DC, the first step toward launching commercial services in the cities. Data collection involves manually driving a robotaxi around to grab information on the local driving environment and climate. The next step will be mapping the… Continue reading Cruise is bringing its robotaxis to Seattle and Washington, DC
Uber Eats is reportedly developing an AI chatbot that will offer recommendations, speed up ordering
Uber Eats is developing an AI-powered chatbot that will offer recommendations to users and offer them a quicker way to place orders, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The report says developer Steve Moser discovered details about the chatbot inside of code hidden within the Uber Eats app. The chatbot will ask users about… Continue reading Uber Eats is reportedly developing an AI chatbot that will offer recommendations, speed up ordering
Uber, squeezed by insurance, increases minimum age for new drivers in California
Uber has raised the minimum age requirement for new rides-hailing drivers in California to 25 years old due to what it described as “baselessly higher” commercial insurance costs in the state. The new policy will only apply to new drivers planning to use the rideshare platform. Those who plan to use the app to make… Continue reading Uber, squeezed by insurance, increases minimum age for new drivers in California
Vinfast takes a wild ride, a robotaxi fallout brews and the IRA one year later
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free. Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.… Continue reading Vinfast takes a wild ride, a robotaxi fallout brews and the IRA one year later
Cruise told by regulators to ‘immediately’ reduce robotaxi fleet 50% following crash
Cruise, the self-driving car subsidiary of GM, has been asked to reduce its robotaxi fleet by 50% in San Francisco following a crash Thursday night with a fire truck. The California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, requested the reduction in operations. The… Continue reading Cruise told by regulators to ‘immediately’ reduce robotaxi fleet 50% following crash
Cruise and Waymo see a surge in robotaxi app downloads
Consumer interest in Cruise and Waymo’s competing robotaxi services surged following a vote last week by the California Public Utilities Commission that allowed the two companies to expand and charge for their driverless car operations in San Francisco. Estimates from app intelligence provider data.ai showed 15,400 downloads of the Waymo One app in the five days… Continue reading Cruise and Waymo see a surge in robotaxi app downloads