UBER UPDATE
TAXI DRIVERS BLOCK BRUSSELS DEMANDING THE EU INVESTIGATES UBER FILES REVELATIONS
Hundreds of taxis jammed the streets of Brussels on Thursday 8 September, honking their horns as part of a demonstration by taxi drivers from across Europe. They were demanding the European Commission launch an official inquiry into whether politicians were
improperly influenced by Uber following
revelations contained in the Uber Files, an investigation on Uber’s global lobbying machine published in July by the ICIJ and dozens of media partners. The drivers, representing taxi unions and trade groups from nearly 20 countries, also requested meetings with top European Commissioners, including the body’s president, and insisted the commission roll back policy guidance they said would deregulate the continent’s taxi industry to favour services based on transportation apps such as Uber. The Uber Files revelations have stirred up Europe, immediately sparking taxi driver protests in Italy, France and the United Kingdom, as well as calls for probes of authorities whose dealings with Uber were
UBER CEO SETS DEADLINE TO MOVE TO ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, stated that he doesn’t want Uber drivers to drive gas-powered vehicles past 2030. However, for a company that prides itself on being a platform and not a service provider with employees, electrifying a fleet they don’t even own may prove challenging. The foremost challenge for Uber in implementing EVs is that they cannot give them to drivers as the Uber platform is built on the idea that you bring your car to them and drive it on their ride-hailing app. Another challenge the company faces is the limited affordable EV options available to drivers. The best way to make money as a driver is to drive a cheaper vehicle that is cheap to maintain. While EVs are certainly cheap to maintain, they are often cost-prohibitive. The CEO states explicitly that automakers need to work towards providing EV options between $20-30,000 instead of the average $50-60,000 starting price that we see today. Hopefully, cheaper options are on the horizon.
70
detailed in the files, and demands in several countries to reform lobbying regulations. Thursday’s Brussels demonstration represented an escalation of taxi unions’ calls for governments to investigate Uber’s lobbying of political leaders. Starting at Brussels’ main train station on the north side of the city, protesters marched holding signs that read, “Don’t let Uber make the law,” stopping at the office of Rudi Vervoort, minister-president of the Brussels-Capital Region. The march ended at the European Commission’s headquarters. A commission official told ICIJ that cabinet members of Transportation Commissioner Adina Valean and Jobs & Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit Cabinets planned to meet representatives of the taxi unions.
Uber is now facing multiple legal threats including a class action lawsuit alleging that the company wasn’t forthright with its shareholders about prior misconduct, including wrongdoing exposed in the Uber Files which caused stock prices to drop 5%.
LOCAL CAB EXTENDED WITH EIGHT MORE UK OPERATORS
Uber announced that it is extending its Local Cab product with a further eight operators across the UK: • Salford - Lynch Private Hire • Pontefract - Action Cars & Taxis • Nottingham - Nottingham Cars • Darwen - Rapid Private Hire • York - Streamline Taxis • Bradford - Eccleshill Premier Taxis • Hinckley - A1 Taxis • Lincoln - Handsome Cabs
OCTOBER 2022 PHTM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86
