Latest Sharing Economy Headlines
All the headlines from our Sharing Economy Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Measure in Hawaii Aims to Treat Uber, Lyft Like Taxi Companies
Dec 22 2015 // Two Honolulu council members want ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft to operate more like taxi companies. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported that the city bill includes a variety of changes. Among them, the...
Uber Winning Support for Classifying Drivers as Contractors
Dec 21 2015 // State legislators in Ohio and Florida are moving ahead with regulations governing Uber and other ride services that would designate all drivers as independent contractors, bolstering a critical but much-disputed aspect of...
Rideshare Operators Don’t Have to Provide Driver Names in Vegas
Dec 21 2015 // Ridesharing companies in Las Vegas, Nev., such as Uber and Lyft won’t have to hand over lists of their drivers to Clark County commissioners after all. Commissioners voted in early December to approve its business...
Judge Bars Uber from Imposing New Contract on Drivers in Pay Suit
Dec 18 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. was barred from imposing a new contract on drivers who are suing the company to be treated like employees after a federal judge said the reworded agreement is confusing. U.S. District Judge Edward...
Uber Will Expand Ridesharing Service to Ogden, Utah
Dec 15 2015 // Uber is coming to Ogden, Utah. The ridesharing company already operates in Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Tribune reported it mentioned the expansion on its Utah-specific Twitter account on Friday. It’s expected to...
Seattle City Council Votes to Allow Uber Drivers to Unionize
Dec 15 2015 // Seattle’s City Council voted unanimously to give collective bargaining rights to drivers-for-hire, such as those who work for rideshare companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. The bill, proposed by city...
Oregon High Court Says Cab Company Workers Aren’t Independent Contractors
Dec 14 2015 // The Oregon Supreme Court ruled last week that a Portland taxicab company must pay unemployment insurance taxes for certain drivers because they were improperly classified as independent contractors. The case comes amid...
Uber Winning Support in States for Classifying Drivers as Contractors
Dec 11 2015 // State legislators in Ohio and Florida are moving ahead with regulations governing Uber and other ride services that would designate all drivers as independent contractors, bolstering a critical but much-disputed aspect of...
Judge Rules Uber Drivers Can Seek Expense Reimbursement; Uber to Appeal
Dec 10 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. drivers seeking to be treated as employees won a ruling that could add tens of thousands of them to the case and put hundreds of millions dollars more at stake. The drivers can now seek expense...
Warming to Alternative Classifications for Gig Economy Workers
Dec 10 2015 // Judges and juries around the country are being asked to decide whether Uber and Lyft drivers and other participants in the “gig economy” are really independent contractors or just employees in disguise. But...
Uber Drivers Can Now Pick Up Passengers at Las Vegas Airport
Dec 9 2015 // Travelers to and from Las Vegas can now take an Uber to and from McCarran International Airport as the company has reached an agreement with the airport. The Las Vegas Sun reported that the airport’s Uber ban was...
Entrepreneurs Raise $13 Million to ‘Reinvent’ U.S. P/C Insurance with Peer-to-Peer Insurer
Dec 8 2015 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry is about to be tested directly by the sharing economy. Two tech entrepreneurs have raised $13 million in initial funding to launch a peer-to-peer online property/casualty...
New Rules to Govern Taxis, Uber, Lyft Approved by Oregon City
Dec 8 2015 // Ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft should continue to operating in Portland, Ore. after the City Council approved a new set of rules to govern taxis. The Oregonian reported that the council voted last week to allow...
Mississippi Capitol Moves Closer to Regulating Ridesharing Entities
Dec 8 2015 // Jackson has taken a step toward regulating ride-hailing services such as Uber after the Rules Committee of the Jackson City Council voted to send a suggested ordinance to the full council. The suggested regulations include...
Uber Eyes Both Nevada and California Sides of Lake Tahoe Before 2016
Dec 7 2015 // Uber plans to bring ridesharing to either side of Lake Tahoe before the end of the year. A recent agreement with Nevada allowed the company to launch simultaneously on the California and Nevada sides of Lake Tahoe, the...
Florida Rules Uber Drivers Not Entitled to Unemployment Benefits
Dec 6 2015 // Florida’s job agency has ruled that drivers for Uber and other app companies connecting passengers with rides are not entitled employed benefits due to laid off workers. The Orlando Sentinel reports the Florida...
St. Louis Taxicab Commission Suit Against Lyft Dismissed
Dec 4 2015 // A St. Louis judge has dismissed a lawsuit against the ride-hailing service Lyft. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that a judge also lifted an injunction that barred Lyft from operating in St. Louis and St. Louis...
Rideshare Operators Don’t Have to Provide Driver Names in Vegas
Dec 3 2015 // Ridesharing companies in Las Vegas, Nev. such as Uber and Lyft won’t have to hand over lists of their drivers to Clark County commissioners after all. Commissioners voted this week to approve its business licensing...
Mayor of Florida County Seeks to Reduce Uber’s $3.2M in Fines
Dec 1 2015 // The mayor of Miami-Dade County, Florida, wants to waive about half of the fines Uber currently owes the county. The Miami Herald reports Mayor Carlos Gimenez is pressing commissioners to take up his proposal to legalize...
Florida Taxi, DMV Battle over Ridesharing Insurance Issue Takes Interesting Turn
Nov 24 2015 // The Florida ridesharing lawsuit filed by two taxi companies and an individual against the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FDHSMV) is getting more contentious by the day. Two motions have been filed...
