Trouble in Germany and Poland

Uber has found some trouble in Germany:

Citing complex government regulations, Uber is speeding away from three German cities: Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, nearly nine months after German courts ruled that Uber drivers be required to obtain the same licenses required of commercial taxi drivers.

I am also hearing that Uber in Poland is not exactly legal. Uber as an app is legal but the drivers who use it are not and if caught they are on their own. (Uber says that they keep in touch with those caught by fiscal inspectors.) The penalties are substantial, around $3,000.

There is also talk that the whole EU may come up with a unified laws for ridesharing companies.

Uber cites harsh regulatory environment, pulls out of three German cities

Uber's surge under magnified glass

NPR: Uber Surge Price? Research Says Walk A Few Blocks, Wait A Few

Quartz: How to avoid surge pricing on Uber

SFGate: Report says Uber surge pricing has a twist: some drivers flee

Boston.com: This map shows the Boston boundaries of Uber's surge pricing

ProPublica: Uber's Surge Pricing May Not Lead to a Surge in Drivers

BetaBoston: Auditing Uber: Northeastern researchers test Uber's 'surge pricing'

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Uber has to pay "Robin Hood tax" in Chicago

To operate in Chicago Uber has to pay 2 cents a ride but get airport access under latest Emanuel plan. That's what the headline says but it is so much worse.

Emanuel budget package that will allow them access to the lucrative McCormick Place, Navy Pier and airport pickup sites that have been the exclusive domain of cabs, the ride-share companies will have to kick in a total of 52 cents per ride, up from 30 cents. In addition to the 2-cent charge that surfaced Monday, 10 cents would go into city coffers and another 10 cents would be used to make more taxis wheelchair-accessible. The ride-share drivers also will have to pay a $5 fee at the new pickup locations.

If other local governments see Uber as an easy target for "Robin Hood tax" we all are going to subsidize unions of taxi drivers that have nothing against damaging private cars of Uber drivers.

Free Uber Rides to Reduce DUIs

Aa an Uber driver, I must say that I like that program. In fact, all towns should follow their example.

N.J. Township Gives Free Uber Rides to Reduce DUIs. BTW, who pays the bill if drunk rides make a mess in the car?

Everything you need to know about driving for Uber

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Regular price for this Kindle ebook is $0.99 but starting tomorrow (10/24/15) until Wednesday the 28th this book will be FREE. Please take advantage of this promotion. I can only run one every 3-4 months. And, please give me a good rating and review. The rating matters, just like in Uber.

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Don't "miss the boat" in Chicago

If you live in Chicago and thinking about joining Uber you better do it soon.

Uber Chicago was set to announce Friday that it is more than halfway to its goal of hiring 10,000 new drivers from the South and West Sides.

That sounds to me that long before the Christmas they may reach this goal.

So if i were you I would sing up today, just in case. There is another good reason. Holiday season is just around the corner and that's when you can earn the most. So, don't wait any longer.

Use this link to SIGN UP!

Trouble in Chicago

Politicians in Chicago are most likely pressed hard by taxi drivers unions about Uber in their city so they have no choice but to get tough or to create obstacles non of us will want to get through.

Two aldermen on Wednesday tried again to crack down on ride-share drivers, introducing a plan to require anyone working for Uber or other such companies to get chauffeur's licenses like cabdrivers if they want to pick up passengers at Chicago's airports, McCormick Place or Navy Pier.

One other benefit for Chicago ruling class, fees (read taxes) for those licenses. Big bucks.

Aldermen want Uber drivers to register like cabbies to get O'Hare access

Uber doesn't want go public, don't count on discounted stock

According to Uber's CEO Travis Kalanick the company is not ready to go public yet. 

“We’re maturing as a company, but we’re still like eighth graders,” said Kalanick. “We’re in junior high. And someone’s telling us we need to go to the prom, but it’s a little early. Give us a few years.”
Uber’s apparent reluctance to go public might be due in part to the company’s ready access to cash from private investors. The on-demand car service has raised more than $5 billion total and has a valuation of over $50 billion.

So, if any of you, Uber drivers, were hoping to buy stocks at discounted prices you can forgot about it.

Don’t expect an Uber IPO any time soon

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The group is just as good as this website :).

Was there Uber strike???

Apparently Uber strike was unsuccessful. Few says ago there were plenty of headlines that the strike is planned. After that nothing. Except for one headline that explains it all.

The Flop of Uber Drivers’ National Protest Shows How Hard It Is for Them to Organize

3-DAY STRIKE FOR BETTER WAGES

It could be tougher to get around the Bay Area this weekend after several Uber drivers planned to strike. In San Francisco and across the nation, Uber drivers went on strike, some of them anyway, and so far the results are mixed.

HUNDREDS OF UBER DRIVERS LAUNCH 3-DAY STRIKE FOR BETTER WAGES

UberTaxi - is Uber trying to shut up taxi drivers?

What is UberTaxi? It appears that Uber allows riders to request TAXI  instead of it's UberX driver. It looks like Uber is trying to compete with already tested app for taxi services and shut up it's critics. But it also appears as a message to UberX drivers who plan to strike this weekend.

Uber is down

It appears that Uber.com is down.

In NYC Uber is replacing TAXIs, literally

...in central and lower Manhattan (which is where traffic congestion is worst and de Blasio focused his efforts against Uber), Uber increased pickups year over year by 3.82 million, while taxis decreased pickups by around 3.83 million.

Uber Pickups Replacing Taxi Pickups In Manhattan

New way to work for Uber

Uber introduced a new service, UberRush, an on-demand delivery. At this point it is available in NYC, San Francisco and Chicago. To sign up go here: https://rush.uber.com/delivery-partner/

This weekend Uber drivers go on strike

There is a growing number of Uber drivers who will go on strike this weekend (16-18).






Here are their demands:

• Raise UberX fares by 60% across the board
• Add a Tip Option onto the App
• Raise the minimum fare to $7
• Raise the cancellation fee to $7

All those demands are reasonable. Uber should also carefully rethink their price surges. If they are really high they make customers very unhappy and it reflects in driver's rating. 

BTW, what's up with getting a ride 20 minutes away? Shouldn't the driver be compensated with driving that far???

Uber as a Getaway Car

Even criminals follow the progress in society and business. They call Uber. If they watched The Transporter they definitely missed the point of opening action sequence.

Man Robs Store, Uses Uber for Getaway Car

How expensive Uber can be?

NYC, LA, Las Vegas, Portland and Honolulu. Live in these cities? An Uber ride could cost you.

The 5 Most Expensive U.S. Cities for Uber

Will Socialist shut down Peoples Car?

More than 20,000 UberX drivers are are "working their butts off" on the streets of New York City trying to feed their families and mayor Bill de Blasio is not happy.

Uber doubles number of drivers—just as de Blasio feared

UberPool, car pooling Uber style

Did you hear? Uber now offers car pooling. If you are a full-time Uber driver you may see it as another attack on your wallet by Uber. However, I think it's a great idea and a great way to get people, who otherwise would not even consider it, to ride with Uber.

There are also people like me who work full-time in a far away offices and drive for Uber part-time on evenings and weekends. For us UberPool is simply another way to make a paycheck, make a car payment, or simply finance our commute.

So, here is a question: why there is no more information about this service? In what cities it will be available? When? And when it will come to my area?

More options for drivers in Boston

Whether Uber likes it or not they may have to start to care about their drivers little bit more. This little operator in Boston may make it happen.

Uber and Lyft face a new challenger in Boston

Feds will go after Uber?

"Flexible” and “tar­geted” reg­u­la­tions of so-called “shar­ing eco­nomy” ser­vices like Uber and Airb­nb may be ne­ces­sary, the head of the Fed­er­al Trade Com­mis­sion said Fri­day.
In a speech at Ford­ham Uni­versity Law School, FTC Chair­wo­man Edith Ramirez warned that im­pos­ing “leg­acy reg­u­la­tions on new busi­ness mod­els” can stifle com­pet­i­tion and ul­ti­mately leaves con­sumers worse off. But, she said, reg­u­lat­ors shouldn’t shy away from en­for­cing im­port­ant con­sumer pro­tec­tions on is­sues like health, safety, or pri­vacy.

FTC Chief Calls for “Targeted” Regulation of Uber, Airbnb

Nobody told them: Socialists support greatest business creation program in last 30 years, Uber

Uber, Uber and Vlad Uber

In the US socialists don't say anything bad about Uber. In fact, they love it. They see how much money they can save riding to their jobs at universities and government. So maybe we should not tell them that Uber is most likely the greatest small business (so many possible new Republicans - just give them time) creation program ever. 1 million small business owners/drivers around the world. 

Apparently some lefties in the UK are more confused than ever. They love Uber but they also love taxis. One of them tries to pull them away from the 'dark side'.

Imagine that a left-wing union activist from Glasgow dreamed up an idea for a workers' ride-sharing cooperative. In this thought experiment, let's give this business a liberal-friendly name, "PeopleCar."
PeopleCar would not only help low-income folks get lifts to work cheaper, but it would be structured as a wealth-sharing collective in which 75% of the money made by the business would go directly to the workers running it. And it would be environmentally friendly because it reduces the number of cars on the road, reduces the demand for new cars, and the company would encourage its staff to use electric or hybrid vehicles.

The socialist case for Uber

Uber fight in London

London plans to regulate Uber with driver tests and pick-up delays

Uber drivers will need to wait five minutes before picking ... person up. That way, "driver and vehicle information [can] be communicated to passengers." Another recommends that private hire companies must let customers book a ride up to seven days in advance.





Why on earth are Conservatives trying to stop Uber breaking London's black cab cartel?

Proposed restrictions on the London taxi market would protect the black cab cartel and hurt consumers