After London stripped the service of its license, stories from Austin, Alaska and Denmark offer a preview of what could be next for the city’s transportation.
So who will be most harmed by less public transit service? Well, everyone who breathes dirtier air or sits in clogged traffic as transit use declines will be hurt, but transit-dependent low-income communities of color will suffer most. And city leaders can’t just ask these riders to replace their usual bus routes by downloading a ride-hailing app.
The removal of a single toxic CEO, like the condemning of a single home in the wake of a chemical leak, won’t make the region livable.
The American obsession with self-reliance, which makes it more acceptable to applaud an individual for working oneself to death than to argue that an individual working her/himself to death is evidence of a flawed economic system. The contrast between the gig economy’s rhetoric (everyone is always connecting, having fun, and killing it!) and the conditions that allow it to exist (a lack of dependable employment that pays a living wage) makes this kink especially clear.
Japanese unions worked together to protest, lobby and organize and keep Uber out of Tokyo. They know Uber will continue to fight, so the battle is not over, but this example shows that unions can challenge the company and win.
The future of digital capitalism is before the European Court of Justice, and their decision will affect the future of companies such as Airbnb or Foodora.
Uber drivers, airport workers, homecare, childcare, fast food workers and others will strike tomorrow in cities across the country, demanding a higher minimum wage and the right to a union.
In Uber's early days, it said it wanted to be "everyone's private driver." Now the company and its main U.S. competitor, Lyft, are playing around with the idea of becoming the bus driver, too.
Driver-owned apps could end Uber’s exploitative reign over the ride-share market.
But it's unlikely the politicians and labor leaders involved in the law expected this: an Uber-funded investigation of local union politics by a CIA-linked intelligence company.
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