Tag: Lyft

Lime, Jump, Bird pledge to remove their Miami scooters to avoid flying menaces

Hurricane Dorian’s expected landfall on Florida has Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, and Tampa scrambling to remove bikes and scooters from their streets. If the devices aren’t removed from the streets, they could potentially be picked up by hurricane winds — transforming into threats to people and property. Miami has demanded that all of these mobility… Continue reading Lime, Jump, Bird pledge to remove their Miami scooters to avoid flying menaces

Uber and Lyft are putting $60 million toward keeping drivers independent contractors

In light of gig worker protection legislation Assembly Bill 5 making its way through California’s legislature, Uber and Lyft are amping up their efforts to do whatever they can to prevent it from happening. And in the event that the bill does pass, which would force Uber and Lyft to make their drivers W-2 employees,… Continue reading Uber and Lyft are putting $60 million toward keeping drivers independent contractors

Waymo urges U.S. to ‘promptly’ remove barriers to self-driving cars

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Waymo, the self-driving car unit of Google parent Alphabet Inc, on Thursday urged the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to “promptly” remove regulatory barriers for cars without steering wheels and brake pedals. FILE PHOTO: Three of the fleet of 600 Waymo Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid self-driving vehicles are parked and displayed during… Continue reading Waymo urges U.S. to ‘promptly’ remove barriers to self-driving cars

Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wage of $21 per hour

On the heels of a driver-led protest outside Uber’s San Francisco headquarters, where drivers showed their support for gig worker protections legislation (via Assembly Bill 5) and demanded a union, Uber is circulating a petition urging people to “protect ridesharing in California.” In the petition, Uber advocates for a policy that would offer drivers a… Continue reading Uber proposes policy that would pay drivers a minimum wage of $21 per hour

Waymo’s robot taxi service is improving, but riders still have complaints

Waymo is operating its self-driving ride-hailing service in two cities: Phoenix, with some paying customers and some riding for free, and San Francisco and the surrounding towns, with just employees as passengers. A majority of riders leave positive feedback about their experiences riding in Waymo’s robot taxis, but there are still some notable complaints, according… Continue reading Waymo’s robot taxi service is improving, but riders still have complaints

Hertz Weighs in on Fox Sale to Europcar

Marinello responded that Hertz strategically uses Dollar and Thrifty to compete in the budget-conscious space occupied by Fox. Photo via Europcar.  In Hertz Global Holdings’s second quarter earnings conference call, held Aug. 7, CEO Kathy Marinello offered some thoughts on the recent sale of Fox Rent A Car to Europcar.  The comments came during the… Continue reading Hertz Weighs in on Fox Sale to Europcar

Avis’s Connected Car Initiatives Bearing Fruit Sooner than Expected

Avis intends to expand its TNC rentals exponentially, by implementing continued use of connected cars.  Photo via Lyft.  Avis Budget Group’s second quarter conference call outlined how the company’s connected car initiatives are beginning to bear fruit right now. As a quick refresher, the “connected car” is a telematics-enabled vehicle that allows the company to… Continue reading Avis’s Connected Car Initiatives Bearing Fruit Sooner than Expected

Uber shares slide after reporting disappointing quarterly results

VIDEO3:2503:25Uber reported a $5.2 billion loss—What five experts are watching nowTrading NationUber shares dropped as much as 12% in extended trading Thursday after the company delivered disappointing second-quarter results.
Shares remained down roughly 8% in premarket trading Friday.
It was a miss on both top and bottom lines for Uber. Net losses for the ride-hailing company soared to $5.24 billion, largely owing to stock based compensation.
Here's how the numbers stacked up otherwise versus analysts' expectations (according to consensus estimates compiled by Refinitiv):
Loss per share: $4.72, versus $3.12 expectedRevenue: $3.17 billion versus $3.36 billion expected “We think that 2019 will be our peak investment year and we think that 2020, 2021, you'll see losses come down. I think our break even is something that we can push the company to break even if we really wanted to frankly,” said CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a conversation with CNBC's Deirdre Bosa. “No doubt in my mind that the business will eventually be a break even and profitable business.”
VIDEO21:1121:11Watch Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's full interview following Q2 earnings missSquawk on the StreetExcluding stock-based compensation, Uber's losses were around $1.3 billion, roughly 30% worse than in the preceding quarter.
While Uber helped establish ride-hailing in markets all over the world, over the past decade, the company has been investing in and operating myriad “on-demand” businesses including food delivery, bike-sharing and a freight service that matches shippers with carriers who can haul their goods.
Uber's core ride-hailing business generated $12.19 billion in gross bookings during the second-quarter of 2019, beating analysts' estimate of $12.11 billion in gross bookings. But the newer, Uber Eats business generated $3.39 billion in gross bookings falling short of analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion in gross bookings.
Khosrowshahi said in the call with CNBC, “The Eats business is still a business that carries very significant growth going forward and that continues to attract a lot of capital. Not just in the US, but all over the world. With the eats business there's a lot of capital chasing a lot of growth and we're the leader on a global basis. So, I don't expect that business to be profitable in the next year or year after frankly.”
In recent weeks, Uber cut approximately 400 jobs from its marketing team.
The company boasted over 30 million riders in 2018. In July, the Uber platform reached over 100 million “Monthly Active Platform Consumers” for the first time, the company reported on Thursday.
Still, Uber has been working to keep riders, and drivers, loyal to its app with membership offerings and loyalty rewards, while battling formidable competitors including Lyft in North America, and Grab and Didi in Asia.
Uber previously recorded a $1 billion loss on $3.1 billion in revenue in its first report as a public company in May 2019.
Now, Uber must convince investors that, under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's leadership, it is on a path to profitability with a realistic long-term plan for generating returns for investors. That's no easy feat since Uber, like other ride-hailing providers, has long subsidized its rides.
Uber priced its IPO shares at $45 in its market debut, and shares closed on Wednesday ahead of the second-quarter update at $39.15, trending higher after hours after its chief U.S. competitor, Lyft, reported lower than expected losses, higher than expected revenue, and gave a rosier outlook for the rest of 2019.
–Paayal Zaveri contributed to this report.
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This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
VIDEO6:2906:29Uber is losing money — will it ever be profitable?Tech

Unlocking Access to Self-Driving Research: The Lyft Level 5 Dataset and Competition

By Luc Vincent, EVP Autonomous Technology At Lyft, we believe self-driving technology presents a rare opportunity to improve the quality of life in our communities. Avoidable collisions, single-occupant commuters, and vehicle emissions are choking our cities, while infrastructure strains under rapid urban growth. Our path forward to solve these challenges is clear: build the world’s… Continue reading Unlocking Access to Self-Driving Research: The Lyft Level 5 Dataset and Competition