According to Lyft, the rideshare company has partnered with Motional to launch a multimarket robotaxi service in major US cities in 2023. The new vehicles will be fully driverless, the fleet size will grow significantly, and the service will have the potential to scale widely.
Uber has expanded its Uber Green program to more than 1,400 North American cities in an effort to incentivize drivers to use all-electric and hybrid vehicles. New locations include Austin, Houston, Miami, and New York City. The company’s plan is to become a zero-emission platform by 2040.
On January 14, Uber and Lyft drivers filed a lawsuit to overturn the California ballot initiative that makes them independent contractors instead of employees. The lawsuit, filed with the California Supreme Court, alleges that Proposition 22 is unconstitutional because it limits the Legislature’s power to grant workers the right to organize. It also excludes drivers from being eligible for workers’ compensation.
Last weekend, hundreds of car enthusiasts came together to Canberra’s Lonsdale Street. In addition to the illegal event forcing road closures and leading to cars being impounded, some attendees were filmed doing burnouts on e-scooters. Beam, the electric scooter rental company, is working to identify those individuals to refer them to the police.
A mother from Manchester, New Hampshire, has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child. This is after, according to police, she hired a Lyft driver to take her three-year-old to daycare and later left her urine-soaked baby strapped in a carrier near a heater.