Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Today’s Headlines

In response to drivers’ efforts to win labor rights, Uber and Lyft are offering California drivers a $21 minimum wage while on a trip, plus paid time off and other benefits. But $21 isn’t much of a living wage in San Francisco, drivers responded. (Tech Crunch) An app called Safe Lanes lets cellphone users easily […]

Instead of holding meetings at City Hall attended by crowds that skew older, whiter and more affluent, transportation planners who want to engage diverse communities should bring the government to the people. (City Lab) As part of President Trump’s trade war, Congress is considering banning local and state governments from using federal funds to purchase […]

Phoenix voters have saved the city’s light rail system from a Koch Brothers-funded onslaught. (Streetsblog) Cities have got to start phasing out cars while improving transit and other transportation options. (Treehugger) Leading tech companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft have ignored the pleas to add railroad crossings to online maps, even though hundreds of people […]

Why do e-bike batteries spontaneously combust? Lots of reasons, including damage, sabotage or cheap construction. (Bicycling) A $1 “safe rides fee” that Uber implemented in 2014 simply padded the company’s bottom line, according to a New York Times excerpt of an upcoming book on the ride-hail giant. Uber will recoup a bit of the $16 […]

British Uber drivers are suing the company for data to see if they’re getting paid what they should be (City Lab). In California, drivers are planning a cross-state caravan to protest Uber and Lyft’s labor practices (Tech Crunch). Arguing that they’re a tech company, not a transportation provider (so they’re not regulated by the Americans […]