Latest Sharing Economy Headlines

All the headlines from our Sharing Economy Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Dispute Simmering Between Uber, de Blasio Over Access to NYC Streets

Jul 21 2015 // A dispute is simmering between the ride-booking service Uber and New York Mayor Bill de Blaiso’s City Hall, an increasingly pitched disagreement playing out on smartphones, over the airwaves and in the press over a...

Florida County Fines Lyft For Operating Without a Permit

Jul 21 2015 // The Hillsborough Public Transportation Commission is upholding a previous ruling that the commission can fine the ridesharing company Lyft for allowing drivers to operate without a county permit. The Tampa Tribune reports...

Judge in California Says Uber Must Face Taxi Suit over Safety Claims

Jul 20 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit over its claims to being safer than taxis. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in San Francisco on Friday allowed the case to proceed, finding that the app-based ridesharing...

Uber to Cease Operations in Florida’s Broward County

Jul 20 2015 // The popular ridesharing service Uber has announced it is leaving Broward County, Florida. The company said July 6 that it will withdraw completely from the county on July 31. Uber had previously agreed to withdraw from the...

Uber Driver Arrested in Florida City for Violating Ordinance

Jul 17 2015 // Police in Key West, Fla., have arrested an Uber driver following a crackdown on unlicensed vehicle-for-hire drivers. Spokeswoman Alyson Crean told the Miami Herald that 51-year-old Martin Maness was arrested July 10 on two...

Labor Department’s 6-Part Test for Classifying Employees, Independent Contractors

Jul 16 2015 // The U.S. Department of Labor has issued a blog post with new guidance on classifying workers as employees or independent contractors under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA), an issue that has attracted renewed...

Uber to Settle Lawsuit Over California Girl’s Crosswalk Death

Jul 16 2015 // Uber is settling lawsuit with the family of a 6-year-old girl who died when a company driver hit her with his SUV. The San Francisco Chronicle reports the company is paying the family an undisclosed settlement for the 2013...

California Judge Fines Uber $7.3 M, and Suspends Service

Jul 16 2015 // Uber has been fined $7.3 million for refusing to give California regulators information about the ride-hailing company’s business practices, including accident details and how accessible vehicles are to disabled...

NYC Taxi Regulator Sides With Uber in Employee vs. Contractor Debate

Jul 14 2015 // New York considers drivers for ride-hailing car services such as Uber freelance workers rather than employees, according to the city’s chief taxi regulator, a policy that supports the company’s business...

Uber Reaches Interim Deal to Operate in Burlington, Vermont

Jul 14 2015 // The city of Burlington, Vermont, and the Uber ride-hailing service have signed an agreement to allow Uber to temporarily operate in the city and at the airport, the mayor’s office announced on July 10. Under the...

Uber Fighting California Driver Lawsuit

Jul 10 2015 // Uber is arguing that a lawsuit filed by drivers should not proceed as a class action with the ride service citing statements of support from hundreds of other Uber drivers in a case that could decide whether they are...

Uber Says ‘So Long’ to One of Florida’s Largest Counties

Jul 8 2015 // The popular ridesharing service Uber has announced it is leaving Broward County. The company announced July 6 that it will withdraw completely from the county on July 31. Uber had previously agreed to withdraw from the...

Bill Allowing Uber to Stay in South Carolina Is Officially Law

Jul 6 2015 // Uber is staying in South Carolina. After the transportation network company (TNC) was halted by the state’s Public Service Commission in January and then granted a temporary license through June 30, South Carolina...

NYC Legislators Seek to Put Limits on Rideshare Vehicles During Study

Jul 2 2015 // Staff and drivers for ride-hailing company Uber gathered outside City Hall on Tuesday, June 30, to protest legislation that would put limits on for-hire vehicles while the city conducts a study on whether the sharp growth...

Bill Allowing Uber to Stay in South Carolina is Officially Law

Jul 2 2015 // Uber is staying in South Carolina. After the transportation network company (TNC) was halted by the state’s Public Service Commission in January and then granted a temporary license through June 30, South Carolina...

Two Uber Executives Detained by French Police Pending Investigation

Jun 30 2015 // French police have detained two executives from Uber for questioning as a government clampdown intensifies on the U.S.-based taxi and ride-sharing service. Thibaud Simphal, manager of Uber France, and Pierre-Dimitri...

Ridesharing Apps in California Get Kids Around When Parents Are Busy

Jun 26 2015 // Sacha Simmons used to dread taking a taxi to her high school or someplace else to hang out with her teenage friends when her parents weren’t around to give her a ride. Sometimes, the cab drivers wouldn’t show...

Penn. Advises Rideshare Drivers to Carefully Examine Insurance Coverage

Jun 25 2015 // Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller is urging potential drivers for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft to consult with their insurance companies to ensure adequate coverage for themselves and...

NYC’s Taxi Regulatory Agency OKs New App Rules for Uber, Lyft

Jun 24 2015 // New York City’s taxi regulatory agency on Monday approved new rules governing how Uber and other app-based car services operate within the five boroughs. Part of the proposal unanimously passed allows the companies...

New Worker Classification Needed for Sharing Economy, Uber Drivers

Jun 24 2015 // This question of whether an Uber driver is an employee doesn’t matter just to Uber. As you may have heard, the on-demand car-service juggernaut lost a case early this month before the California Labor Commissioner on...