Latest Sharing Economy Headlines
All the headlines from our Sharing Economy Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Insurers Group Hopes Governor Signs Airbnb Bill
Jul 8 2016 // Another bill dealing with the sharing economy is headed to the California governor’s desk. A bill to ensure homeowners and renters offering rooms for rent on hosting platforms like Airbnb and Home Away understand...
Massachusetts Ridesharing Bill Moves into Final Stretch
Jul 1 2016 // Transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft would be legally sanctioned to operate in Massachusetts, under a set of mostly reasonable regulation, under legislation approved this week in a 34-2 vote of the state...
PCI Urges California Governor to Sign Insurance Bill on the Sharing Economy
Jul 1 2016 // The Property Casualty Association is urging California’s governor to sign a bill approved by the Legislature to ensure homeowners and renters offering rooms for rent on hosting platforms like Airbnb and Home Away...
Uber Using Software to Track Drivers’ Behavior
Jun 30 2016 // Using smartphone sensors to peek over its drivers’ shoulders, Uber is promising to keep a closer eye on their behavior — while discouraging speeding or slamming on the brakes. The global ride-hailing company on...
Judge in California Approves Lyft’s $27M Driver Settlement Deal
Jun 27 2016 // A U.S. judge granted preliminary approval to ride service Lyft’s $27 million settlement of a class action lawsuit brought by California drivers who claimed they should be deemed employees instead of independent...
New Hampshire Ridesharing Law Goes Into Effect
Jun 27 2016 // A state law requiring criminal background checks on drivers of ride-hailing companies took effect this week with Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan’s signature. The law also requires ride-hailing companies like Uber and...
Uber Reaches Deal to Re-Enter Alabama City
Jun 24 2016 // An agreement that would bring Uber back to Tuscaloosa has been reached, although the city council still must give final approval next week. The Tuscaloosa News reports that most city councilors support the ride-for-hire...
Rhode Island Lawmakers Pass Ridesharing, Drone Bills
Jun 23 2016 // Rhode Island’s legislature has passed a bill to legalize and regulate ride-hailing app companies such as Uber. The legislation was among hundreds of bills passed during an all-night session that ended Saturday. It...
Uber Supports Having New Jersey AG Decide Driver Background Checks
Jun 22 2016 // Ride-hailing company Uber says it supports allowing New Jersey’s attorney general to decide what type of background checks its drivers should have to use. Company spokesman Matt Wing told The Associated Press that...
Austin City Council Member Sues Over Ride-Hailing Fingerprint Rule
Jun 21 2016 // An Austin City Council member who is a supporter of ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft has filed a lawsuit to overturn a requirement for their drivers to undergo fingerprint criminal background checks left standing in a...
As On-Demand Economy Grows, Professor Sees New Kind of Capitalism Emerging
Jun 16 2016 // It goes by many names: the “sharing economy,” the “gig economy,” the “on-demand economy.” Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business who has...
Fingerprinting Is Key Sticking Point for New Jersey’s Rideshare Regs
Jun 16 2016 // When Democratic New Jersey Assemblyman Joseph Lagana decided to regulate ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft in the state, his said his main priority was making sure the drivers were properly insured. Two years...
Uber Offers $7.5M to Settle Lawsuit Over Drivers’ Background Checks
Jun 15 2016 // Uber has agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by drivers over background checks conducted by the ride-hailing company, according to a court filing on Wednesday. The case in San Francisco federal court...
Pennsylvania Regulators to Reconsider Record $11.4M Fine Against Uber
Jun 13 2016 // Pennsylvania’s utility regulators voted on June 9 to reconsider the record-setting $11.4 million fine they imposed on ride-hailing company Uber. The Public Utility Commission fined San Francisco-based Uber in April...
Drivers Sue After Uber, Lyft Exit Austin
Jun 13 2016 // Former Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. drivers in Austin, Texas, have accused the ride-hailing companies of breaking a federal law by abruptly halting operations in the city after voters backed a measure requiring...
How Gig Economy Is Using Private Arbitration to Win on Labor Classification
Jun 6 2016 // Sharing economy workers’ best shot at suing to rewrite the rules of their employment may soon pass them by. As judges last Thursday considered settlements that will leave Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. drivers...
Safety: Ridesharing Drivers vs. Average Drivers
Jun 6 2016 // Ridesharing drivers are safer drivers than the average American behind the wheel, according to research by Boston-based Aite Group. The researchers, using driving analytics data, conclude that average consumers are safer...
NYC Drivers Group Sues Uber Over Independent Contractor Classification
Jun 3 2016 // A group representing 5,000 Uber Technologies Inc drivers in New York City filed a lawsuit on Thursday accusing the ride-share company of depriving drivers of various employment protections by misclassifying them as...
Judge Questions Lyft’s Revised Pay Deal with California Drivers
Jun 3 2016 // Lyft Inc. may have more work to do to win court approval of a settlement with 163,000 California drivers who sued to be treated as employees. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco on Thursday indicated...
Critics of Uber’s $100M Driver Settlement Have Day in Court
Jun 3 2016 // Uber Technologies Inc. may have to return to the bargaining table to show just how badly it wants to avoid a jury trial with drivers demanding to be treated as employees. The world’s largest rideshare company faced...
