Uber hits 10 billion trips

Last month, Uber hit 10 billion completed trips across rides and deliveries, the company announced today. This comes about one year after Uber hit five billion trips. Lyft, Uber’s main competitor in the U.S., hit half a billion rides last October. Uber officially hit the milestone on June 10, 2018 when 173 trips and deliveries simultaneously… Continue reading Uber hits 10 billion trips

Uber self-driving cars back on public roads, but in manual mode

Uber is putting its autonomous vehicles back on Pittsburgh’s city streets, four months after a fatal accident involving one of its self-driving cars prompted the ride-hailing company to halt testing on public roads. But for now, Uber’s modified self-driving Volvo XC90 vehicles will only be driven manually by humans and under a new set of safety… Continue reading Uber self-driving cars back on public roads, but in manual mode

Southeast Asia’s Grab hit by backlash over changes to customer loyal program

Life without Uber should be simple for Grab, but a battle with regulators in Singapore could see the company’s acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asia business unwound while some consumers have voiced concern around a lack of competition. Grab co-founder Hooi Ling Tan recently claimed competition remains in the market, but that hasn’t stopped another consumer backlash… Continue reading Southeast Asia’s Grab hit by backlash over changes to customer loyal program

Lime hits six million rides

Lime, the bike and scooter-share company that recently raised $335 million from GV, Uber and others, has hit six million rides since launching last June. Lime, which first launched in Greensboro, N.C., has since expanded to 70 cities. In comparison, Bird announced in April it hit 1 million rides since launching in November. Lime’s ridership in… Continue reading Lime hits six million rides

Uber’s ‘Vomit Fraud’ Sounds Worse Than Surge Pricing

Photo: Getty As an Uber driver, you have to deal with low wages, an uncertain future, and the possibility of getting yelled at by the company’s billionaire founder. There’s also the more common issue of drunk people puking in your back seat. But a news report claims passengers in Miami are getting hit with fees… Continue reading Uber’s ‘Vomit Fraud’ Sounds Worse Than Surge Pricing

Uber’s Indian rival Ola is aiming for an IPO in 3-4 years

Ola, Uber’s chief rival in India, is planning to go public potentially as soon as in three years time, according to its CEO. Co-founder and chief executive officer Bhavish Aggarwal told the audience at an event in Bengaluru last week that seven-year-old Ola is poised to become a cash flow positive business — having recently hit operational… Continue reading Uber’s Indian rival Ola is aiming for an IPO in 3-4 years

SoftBank-backed Mapbox targets ride-hailing, self-driving cars

July 20, 2018 Mapbox Inc., backed by SoftBank Group Corp., says it has a role to play in Masayoshi Son’s vision for ride-hailing and autonomous cars. The provider of mapping data for Tinder, Evernote and Facebook Inc. in October raised $164 million in a funding round led by the SoftBank Vision Fund. The infusion was… Continue reading SoftBank-backed Mapbox targets ride-hailing, self-driving cars

Uber’s CEO Faces an Impossible Decision

Of all the management mistakes that led to Uber’s culture and business crisis, Travis Kalanick’s biggest mistake was that he kept a tight inner circle of executives, for whom bad behavior appeared to have no consequences. The most egregious example of this anything-goes leadership culture was in 2014, when Emil Michael, then Uber’s senior vice… Continue reading Uber’s CEO Faces an Impossible Decision

Robot Truck Upstart Embark Hauls In $30 Million To Take On Waymo And Uber

Embark co-founders Alex Rodrigues, left, and Brandon Moak with their fleet of autonomous semi-trucks at the startup’s operations center in Ontario, California. Embark Trucks What makes a couple of brash 22-year-old entrepreneurs think they can take on Waymo, the clear leader in self-driving vehicle technology, when it comes to putting autonomous trucks on the road? … Continue reading Robot Truck Upstart Embark Hauls In $30 Million To Take On Waymo And Uber

Euro startup FlixBus expands its $10 bus service in California

FlixBus, the low-cost bus service out of Europe, is doubling down on its U.S. launch. The parent company, FlixMobility, started cheap bus routes between Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson just two months ago. Now it’s adding another 16 connections throughout central and northern California. as well as Nevada and Arizona. The new connections,… Continue reading Euro startup FlixBus expands its $10 bus service in California