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Uber granted right to appeal against ruling on UK drivers’ rights

Uber granted right to appeal against ruling on UK drivers’ rights

Uber has been granted the right to appeal against last year’s landmark ruling that its UK minicab drivers should be treated as employed workers with rights to the minimum wage and sick pay.

The employment appeals tribunal in London has set a date for a two-day hearing starting on 27 September. The San Francisco-based company will argue its 40,000 currently self-employed drivers in Britain are free to work when and where they want and enjoy more flexibility than traditional private-hire drivers who are self-employed.

It represents a rare piece of good news for the company, which has been valued at $70bn but has been hit by controversies including allegations of sexual discrimination at its head office; its founder, Travis Kalanick, shouting at a driver who was complaining to him about exploitation; and allegations that David Cameron tried to protect the company from tougher regulation proposed by the London mayor’s office.

The case centres on two Uber drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, who took Uber to court on behalf of a group 19 others who argued they were employed rather than working for themselves. Uber’s business model has been based on treating drivers who log on to its app as self-employed contractors and taking a cut of their fares, which the company dictates.

At the very least, gaining the right to appeal delays the need for Uber to make a fundamental change to its business model in Britain. The decision was welcomed by a spokesman. “The vast majority of drivers who use Uber tell us they want to remain their own boss as that’s the main reason why they signed up to us in the first place,” he said.

The GMB trade union, which is backing Farrer and Aslam, said it would continue to fight. “Whilst we fully respect the higher court’s interest in this extraordinarily important case about bogus self-employment, we remain 100% confident that the courts will uphold the original judgment that these drivers have employed worker status,” said Maria Ludkin, GMB’s legal director. The lower-tier employment tribunal was scathing in its judgment last October, ruling that drivers who used Uber’s phone app to pick up fares were not self-employed.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/19/uber-appeal-uk-employment-ruling-drivers-working-rights?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=222394&subid=7905804&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

  • Are Uber’s drivers employees or independent contractors? Round two in the UK.
Mercedes-Benz makes customers’ lives easier with Google Home and Amazon Alexa

Mercedes-Benz makes customers’ lives easier with Google Home and Amazon Alexa

Customers will be able to use both Google Assistant on Google Home and Amazon Alexa with all 2016 and 2017 Mercedes-Benz models in the United States. Customers are increasingly benefiting from seamless and intelligent interactions between Internet of Things (IoT) devices connected through their Mercedes-Benz cars. Voice-activated personal assistants are one such means of interaction, supported by robust artificial intelligence (AI). By connecting these powerful services to Mercedes-Benz’s vehicles, customers gain personalized engagement and experiences.

With targeted commands to their personal assistant-enabled and voice-enabled devices, customers will be able to activate various functions for their vehicles. Natural language understanding allows the services to interpret these commands and turn them into actions.

For instance, customers with Google devices can simply say, “Ok, Google, tell Mercedes me to start my car,” and it will remotely start the customer’s car. Another available feature includes remote lock. With Alexa devices, customers can say, “Alexa, ask Mercedes me to send an address to the car” for remote navigation input and point-of-interest requests.

“We want to offer our customers a broad range of services 24/7, not just when they are in our cars,” says Nils Schanz, Head of IoT and Wearable Integration at MBRDNA. “Mercedes-Benz’s goal is creating an intelligent ecosystem around cars, and developing cutting-edge technology to make everyday life more convenient for our customers.”

Besides the devices, Mercedes-Benz customers will need an active Mercedes me-account and an active mbrace© subscription. In order to link their accounts, customers will have to download the Google Home or Amazon Alexa app and connect it with Mercedes me. The service is now available in the United States. Europe will follow later this year.

In December 2016, Mercedes-Benz announced the integration with the Google Assistant on Google Home. Today, Mercedes-Benz is one of the first carmakers to integrate Google Home with their vehicles. This integration signals a significant step forward in the company’s connectivity strategy.

  • Google Assistant on Google Home and Amazon Alexa talks to all 2016 and 2017 Mercedes-Benz models.
First autonomous electric shuttles arrive in Quebec – Keolis Canada and NAVYA demonstrate at UITP Congress

First autonomous electric shuttles arrive in Quebec – Keolis Canada and NAVYA demonstrate at UITP Congress

Keolis Canada and NAVYA announced that they will officially present their autonomous electric shuttle project at the UITP Global Public Transit Summit, one of the largest public transit events in the world, being held in Montreal May 15 to 17. In September 2016, in Lyon, France, Keolis launched experimental testing of NAVLY, the world’s first public transport service using autonomous electric shuttles. Since then, it has tested a number of other autonomous shuttle projects in major cities, including Las Vegas in January. The shuttle epitomizes the transport of tomorrow, and both Keolis Canada and NAVYA welcome the collaboration of the Ville de Montréal.

“This is a great progress for us, as we have been evaluating the Quebec market for some time. The UITP Summit is the perfect venue at which to present the product, which offers a solution for the initial and final stages of a trip. Keolis will also play a visible role at the Summit. We believe that electric vehicles represent the future of public transit, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to test this new autonomous vehicle here as a Canadian first. The enthusiasm for the project is already contagious,” said Patrick Gilloux, President and Chief Operating Officer of Keolis Canada.

“We know there is keen interest in Quebec for innovative mobility solutions such as autonomous electric shuttles,” stated Christophe Sapet, CEO of NAVYA. “We are pleased to have deployed more than 35 vehicles to date and transported more than 130,000 passengers world-wide, and Canada is an important step ahead in our international development. We look forward to theMontreal demonstration of this product, which is a viable response to the problems faced by cities today: congestion, pollution and parking.”

“Montreal is actively preparing for the emergence of autonomous and electric vehicles. The new institute to study and promote electrification and intelligent transportation will draw on Montreal’s many assets as a city of innovation. We have what it takes to become a global leader in the mobility of tomorrow, and I applaud the contribution of Keolis Canada and NAVYA in this field,” stated Denis Coderre, Mayor of Montreal.

The autonomous electric shuttle
Environmentally-friendly and providing flexibility in its management, the autonomous shuttle enables communities to better adapt their transit offering to the needs of citizens while controlling the impact on infrastructure and reducing traffic and pollution. With a capacity of 15 passengers, it also facilitates the transportation of personnel, visitors or service agents on private sites, improves access and mobility, and optimizes employee work time. Ideal for urban areas, airports, industrial sites, amusement parks, hotel complexes and hospitals, it has been designed to help organizations and businesses improve performance by streamlining the flow of movement.
• Keolis Canada and NAVYA demonstrate autonomous vehicles at UITP Congress.

25% of U.S. driving could be done by self-driving cars by 2030, study finds

25% of U.S. driving could be done by self-driving cars by 2030, study finds

Self-driving still seems to be a ways off from active public use on regular roads, but once it arrives, it could ramp very quickly, according to a new study by the Boston Consulting Group. The study found that by 2030, up to a quarter of driving miles in the U.S. could be handled by self-driving electric vehicles operating in shared service fleets in cities, due mostly to considerable cost savings for urban drivers.

The big change BCG sees is a result of the rise in interest in autonomous technologies, paired with the increased electrification of vehicles. There’s also more pressure on cities to come up with alternate transportation solutions that address increasing congestion. All of that added together could drive reduction in costs by up to 60 percent for drivers who opt into using shared self-driving services vs. owning and operating their own cars.

This won’t result in a precipitous drop in the car sales market, however, according to BCG. Total demand for cars will remain high, but the shift of who owns them and how they’re used will change dramatically, if the report’s findings prove correct – particularly in large cities where the fleets could have ramifications including decreased traffic congestion, but also decreased ridership, which the research firm says could lead to regulated limits on how many self-driving taxi services can operate in a given area.

Ultimately, the dramatic uptake is down to cold, hard cash: BCG says that shared fleets might be able to effectively double discretionary income for the average city-dweller over the course of a year, and we all know fun money is a powerful motivator.

Read more: https://techcrunch.com/2017/04/10/25-of-u-s-driving-could-be-done-by-self-driving-cars-by-2030-study-finds/

• By 2030 25% of US driving done by self-driving vehicles?

Deutsche Bahn, EasyMile and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group represented with Busitalia at BUS2BUS

Deutsche Bahn, EasyMile and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group represented with Busitalia at BUS2BUS

Leading bus manufacturers including Scania, Volvo, EvoBus (Daimler) and MAN will be represented atBUS2BUS on 25 and 26 April 2017 in Berlin. Two other major transport companies have now also confirmed their participation inBUS2BUS: Deutsche Bahn in cooperation with EasyMile as well as Busitalia (Ferroviedello Stato Italiane Group), a company supported by Italy’s state-run rail operator.

Together with EasyMile, Deutsche Bahn (DB) will be showcasing the latest advances in driverless vehicles as well as the future of public transport. At BUS2BUS visitors will be able to witness the driverless EZ10, a minibus which at the beginning of 2017 was trialled at 50 different locations in 14 countries. In Germany it was tested with DB in Berlin and Leipzig.

Busitalia will be represented with a stand in the display hall and a bus on the outdoor display site. The company chose BUS2BUS in order to present its new business projects for the long-distance coach travel market.

In addition to bus manufacturers, companies representing services, maintenance, infrastructure, components & accessories, digital services, comfort & design and “fresh travel” will also be exhibiting at BUS2BUS.
For more information on BUS2BUS 2017 please visit www.bus2bus.berlin.

  • BUS2BUS welcomes leading bus manufacturers to Berlin.
Traffic anomalies no longer a mystery thanks to drivers´ Bluetooth devices.

Traffic anomalies no longer a mystery thanks to drivers´ Bluetooth devices.

Thanks to years of collecting traffic data, based on the movement of driver´s mobile devices, Aarhus municipality in Denmark can now see the effects in road traffic of construction projects, roadwork, traffic accidents and faulty traffic lights.

Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city has been using BlipTrack Bluetooth sensors for several years to collect traffic information, based on the movement of road users´ Bluetooth devices. The sensors, placed on the entire road network, including adjacent highways, provides the city with both real-time and historic traffic information, including driving times, speed, dwell times and flow.

Besides the benefits of real-time reporting, which enables the city to gain in-depth insight and understanding of current road density, flow and formation of queues, and share traffic information with road users on signs, the historical data is now being used to detect driving time anomalies. Effectively, this means that the city can pinpoint road sections and intersections where driving times deviate from the norm as a result of construction projects, incidents, roadwork, faulty traffic lights and other factors.

The data provides a thorough comparison of current vs typical driving times, minute-by-minute throughout the day. The typical driving times, which are continuously updated, are based on various type of days (weekdays, weekend, vacation season or not) and time of day.

If driving times deviate from the typical driving time, the system automatically raises a flag. As the system logs and visualizes all deviations, traffic engineers can create historical performance and reliability reports based on deviations from the norm. The city is provided with an overview of the current situation and tendencies over time, to initiate countermeasures.

Alarm visualization can be displayed in various ways; for example, over time and for each road section, based on intersection errors, or the impact of a major traffic accident. It can show the scattering effect that can cause both a deterioration and improvement of driving times – depending on what alternative routes motorists choose to take advantage of – or if road users are prevented from reaching parts of roads.

“The benefits we have gained from the solution since implementation are very significant. We now discover errors and irregularities that we would not have a chance to see otherwise. In addition, it is extremely educational and easy accessible to study how the incidents of various kinds influence the road network,” says Asbjørn Halskov-Sørensen, ITS Project Manager at Aarhus Municipality.

With the new approach, Aarhus now enjoys a full overview and understanding into all dynamics of its traffic. Since the city has full access to all the raw data, unlike with similar solutions, the plan is to combine the solution with existing surveillance systems. This would enable the city to qualify the individual system’s alarms to an even greater extent.

Besides providing the city of Aarhus with visibility on driving times anomalies, the solution is also implemented in cities in UK, Sweden, Thailand, Switzerland, New Zealand, Norway, Canada and Ireland. BlipTrack also is successfully employed in optimization efforts in more than 25 international airports, including Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, JFK Airport in New York, Copenhagen, Oslo, Manchester, Dublin, Brussels, Geneva, San Diego, Keflavik and Edinburgh. In recent years, the solution has been rolled out in train stations, ports, ski resorts, amusement parks and at events all over the world.

  • BlipTrack Bluetooth sensors help to collect traffic information.
International Road Transport Union (IRU) underlines international dimension of BUS2BUS

International Road Transport Union (IRU) underlines international dimension of BUS2BUS

Europe’s borders have long since ceased to be a hindrance to coach travel. That is why the Bundesverband Deutscher Omnibusunternehmer (bdo) and the International Road Transport Union (IRU) are joining forces in order to address the industry’s key topics at international level at BUS2BUS.

Whereas the bdo closely collaborates with Messe Berlin in its role as the non-commercial sponsor of BUS2BUS, the IRU now officially supports Messe Berlin’s newly organised business platform. The IRU will not only be represented with a stand, but will also be organising two workshops at the Future Forum. These events will discuss the future of long-distance coach travel and bus tourism. It means that BUS2BUS, from which over 70 exhibitors from 13 countries have already registered, is also becoming an increasingly international event for congress and workshop topics. Thus, BUS2BUS, which will take place on 25 and 26 April, will be a cosmopolitan marketplace featuring a congress, exhibition and Future Forum.

Oleg Kamberski, head of Passenger Transport, IRU: ”The IRU is very pleased to be supporting BUS2BUS and to be playing an active part in the event’s Future Forum. BUS2BUS will provide an excellent opportunity for the various players from the bus and coach industry to come together and debate the future of our business. The discussions will certainly provide valuable input into the IRU’s current work on a 2030 vision.”

Christiane Leonard, vice president of the Passenger Transport Council (CTP) of the IRU and managing director of the bdo: ”The IRU’s involvement underlines the significance of BUS2BUS as the new leading event for the bus industry. We look forward to this new and unique high-level event in Berlin, where together with industry representatives important political stakeholders will debate the latest challenges as well as visions for the future of bus transport.“

From 25 to 26 April 2017 visitors to BUS2BUS in Berlin can experience the future of the bus industry on several levels. Combining an exhibition, congress and Future Forum, it represents a globally unique meeting place for debating new business approaches and for building new, cross-sectoral partnerships. At BUS2BUS visitors can view buses on display as well as in action. As a marketplace BUS2BUS enables visitors to put solutions into practice and test drive vehicles on the outdoor display site. The bdo Congress will provide an opportunity for close networking and at the Future Forum the markets of the future will invite visitors to make new discoveries.

  • IRU and BDO want to make BUS2BUS the new leading event in the bus industry.  
U.S. Minivan market collapsed In Q1 By 20%. However, Fiat Chrysler gained market share

U.S. Minivan market collapsed In Q1 By 20%. However, Fiat Chrysler gained market share

The U.S. minivan market was down 20% year over year for the first quarter of 2017 on a unit basis. The market leader by far is FCA, which was down 13% as an average for its multiple minivan models. However, all the other competitors were down more than 13%, so FCA’s market share actually grew from 49% to 53%.

Keep in mind that FCA has a much higher share of its sales going to fleet customers (rental car agencies etc.) than companies such as Honda.

The plug-in hybrid version of the Chrysler Pacifica was delayed from January 1 to late April 2017. Honda also gets an all-new Odyssey by June.

When does being down 13% year over year mean that you gained market share? When you’re Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) and you’re looking at the U.S. minivan market, that’s when.

The U.S. minivan market is currently running around 500,000 units per year, or under 3% of the total U.S. light vehicle market. We just got the 1Q 2017 sales numbers, and it’s not a pretty picture. Overall, the U.S. minivan market was down 20% year over year during the first quarter of 2017. In an overall light vehicle market that was flat to down perhaps 1%, that’s a massive underperformance. Pickup trucks, for example, were up 5%.

One year ago, the market share leader was FCA with 49%. That’s an insanely high number to begin with. If you’re down 13%, that is normally evidence of your market share falling from such an unusually high level.

But not in this case.

Why? Because the competitors were down even more. Just look at this massacre! Toyota down 25%, Honda down 23%, Kia down 37%, and Nissan down 33%. This is nothing short of wild.

Is this a “canary in the coal mine” sign of a falling U.S. birth rate? Slowing family formation? I don’t know, but one can wonder – and should continue to monitor. This is as good a place as any other to point out that FCA has a very high share of its sales going into fleets, such as rental companies.

  • Where’s the US minivan market going?
A Startup You’ve Never Heard of Just Raised More Than Uber

A Startup You’ve Never Heard of Just Raised More Than Uber

If we look back over the last 10 years, there has been a larger and larger focus on on-demand delivery of goods and services. Whether that be Amazon Prime or Uber. There’s no argument that the most important thing is you get what you want, when you want it. At least, that’s what I thought until I heard about Picnic — a year and a half old Dutch grocery delivery startup that is running on a different philosophy. And it’s paying off.

Picnic recently raised €100 million as part of their series B round. To put that into perspective, Uber raised $US37 million in series B.

The most interesting thing about Picnic is how they approach delivery.

“The vehicles work in a way that’s reminiscent of old-fashioned milkmen: they follow set routes and deliver at set times, so costumers always know when to expect their fresh foodstuffs. That’s not only more efficient than how most grocery delivery companies go about it now — criss-crossing town to deliver at requested times, sometimes coming back to the same street after doing a delivery across town — but also allows Picnic to deliver for free.”

It’s not on-demand. At first glance, Picnic couldn’t be more different to Uber. A recently released New York Times piece gives a fascinating look into how Uber influences drivers to drive more. And not to over simplify, but it is all in the hopes of increasing the supply of drivers on the road.

And in turn, that should bring down the time it takes for you and I to get a ride. One of the most fascinating pieces is the algorithm called forward dispatch.

“To keep drivers on the road, the company has exploited some people’s tendency to set earnings goals — alerting them that they are ever so close to hitting a precious target when they try to log off. It has even concocted an algorithm similar to a Netflix feature that automatically loads the next program, which many experts believe encourages binge-watching. In Uber’s case, this means sending drivers their next fare opportunity before their current ride is even over.”

Queueing drivers has obvious benefits for both riders and drivers. For riders, the wait time is lower and for drivers, the idle time is lower. The article’s general focus was on how forward dispatch made the default behaviour to continue to drive. That’s true. But what forward dispatch is really about is boosting efficiency. It means that the driver is always driving towards another fare. What’s interesting to think about is this is exactly why Picnic doesn’t do on-demand delivery.

For Picnic, it’s all about not crisscrossing the city in order to delivery food at a specific time. Because of the lack of volume, they are forced to maintain strict paths. Both Uber and Picnic are focused on bringing down the amount of time that is spent travelling in the wrong direction. Forward dispatch is only viable if you have volume. Picnic’s old school approach is a way to maximum the amount of time spend travelling in the right direction. Without volume. It’s the method of the milkman.

Read more: https://blog.spaceship.com.au/a-startup-youve-never-heard-of-just-raised-more-than-uber-985a0d34484

  • PicNic: the method of the milkman, not of Uber.

 

Register now: Taxi & Mobility Update shows all sides of the mobility debate

Register now: Taxi & Mobility Update shows all sides of the mobility debate

Join us in Brussels on May 4 and 5! A great variety of eminent speakers will be showing all sides of the mobility debate at the annual international Taxi & Mobility Update conference at the Van der Valk Hotel in Brussels. Now is the time to register as there is still room. Don’t miss the chance to update yourself on the latest developments in the taxi & mobility industry! Regulatory issues, autonomous vehicles, Mobility as a Service (MaaS), the future of public transport, new business models and more.

Register now on MobilityIntell for Taxi & Mobility Update 2017, Brussels, 4-5 May!

Some of a host of confirmed speakers:

  • Shwetha Surender from Frost & Sullivan who gives a riveting introductory keynote: “A view towards the horizon: Mega Trends in the Mobility Industry”
  • “Rethinking mobility for a human city” by Prof. Dr. Cathy Macharis, Head of the VUB Research group MOBI – Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre.
  • UITP Secretary-General Alain Flausch on “The leading Role of Public Transport in New Mobility.”
  • Andy Boland, CEO of Addison Lee, one of the largest private hire companies in Europe: “New business models for a changed business environment”
  • “Mobility as a Service – The Future of (Public) Transport” by Sampo Hietanen, CEO MaaS Global Ltd
  • Alwin Bakker, Founder and CEO of Resultancy.nu: “The Autonomous Future”
  • Olli-Pekka Rantala, Director-General of the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication’s Services Department, Helsinki on Finland’s new Transport Code.
  • Kate Toran, Director of Taxis and Accessible Services SFMTA), San Francisco: “A view towards the horizon from where it all began.”
  • Regulatory keynote – Matt Daus, President of the International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR): “A quick update on new regulatory accents worldwide.”

Register now on MobilityIntell for Taxi & Mobility Update 2017, Brussels, 4-5 May!