Uber Archives

Uber can be regulated as a taxi service and not as a digital app following a European Court of Justice decision. Traditional taxi firms, whose drivers have protested in dozens of cities, have welcomed the ruling.

The European Union’s top court ruled on Wednesday that EU member states can regulate the ride-hailing app Uber like a normal taxi company, after judges decreed the US-headquartered firm cannot claim to be merely a provider of digital services.

“The service provided by Uber connecting individuals with non-professional drivers is covered by services in the field of transport,” the European Court of Justice said.

The Luxembourg-based court was ruling on a case brought by a Spanish taxi drivers’ association which complained that Uber is able to circumvent expensive licensing requirements imposed on traditional taxi services by local authorities.

The association, based in Barcelona, sought to prevent Uber from setting up in the city.

In response to Wednesday’s ruling, one Barcelona-based taxi firm, Elite Taxi BCN, tweeted: “Today is a great day, we trust in justice to declare Uber a transport company.”

Drivers signed up to the ride-hailing app could now be forced to obtain similar licenses and authorizations to carry passengers.

New thorn in Uber’s side

Uber claims it is a mere service provider, connecting consumers with drivers in more than 600 cities. It argued that it should be regulated under the EU’s digital services laws.

The ruling is yet another setback for the biggest name in the sharing economy, whose entry into many markets has led to angry protests and strike action from licensed taxi drivers.

But Uber downplayed the impact of Wednesday’s decision, saying that it will continue to find was to operate in Europe.

The decision “will not change things in most EU countries where we already operate under transportation law,” the San Francisco-based company said in a statement. Uber will “continue the dialogue with cities across Europe” to allow access to its services.

In 2014, a Spanish judge ruled that the “Uberpop” service risked breaking the law which led Uber to offer a limited version of its “Uber X” service across the country, which uses licensed professional drivers, rather than amateurs.

Uberpop is banned in Germany and the firm has been forced to redesign its business model in France. Last month, a labor court in London ruled that the ride-hailing app’s drivers were employees, rather than self-employed, and ordered the firm to pay them the minimum wage and paid leave.

Uber is also facing the possible permanent loss of its license to operate in London, after transport regulators ruled that the service wasn’t “fit and proper.”

At the Web Summit in Portugal on Wednesday, Uber announced that flying cars – and UberAir – will be a reality by 2020.

Uber Chief Product Officer Jeff Holden also announced during the conference that Los Angeles and Dallas will be the first two cities to try out Uber’s flying vehicles. Holden predicts that LA locals will likely be making “heavy use” of UberAir during the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics.

“Technology will allow LA residents to literally fly over the city’s historically bad traffic, giving them time back to use in far more productive ways. At scale, we expect UberAir will perform tens of thousands of flights each day across the city,” Holden said, USA Today reported.

Uber has also signed an agreement with NASA to produce a specialized air traffic control network to prevent mid-air accidents.

“UberAir will be performing far more flights over cities on a daily basis than has ever been done before. Doing this safely and efficiently is going to require a foundational change in airspace management technologies,” Holden said.

In a special effects video shown to conference attendees called “Closer Than You Think,” a woman is shown going to an Uber Skyport on the roof of a tall building. The woman requests an UberAir flight through her app and gets on a piloted electric plane with three other passengers. The plane takes off vertically like a helicopter.

The video shows that a ride in UberAir from Los Angeles International Airport to the downtown Staples Center, which typically takes an hour and 20 minutes on the road, only takes 27 minutes in the sky.

Uber has also signed an agreement with Los Angeles’ Sandstone Properties, a real estate investment company, to develop Skyport take-off and landing terminals. Sandstone already has 20 buildings in LA that UberAir could use.

Another alternative to beating ground-level traffic is presented by Tesla, but looks in the opposite direction to UberAir.

In 2017, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk started a new infrastructure and tunnel construction company called The Boring Company, which plans to drill tunnels beneath cities to serve as transportation alternatives.

“To solve the problem of soul-destroying traffic, roads must go 3-D, which means either flying cars or tunnels. Unlike flying cars, tunnels are weatherproof, out of sight and won’t fall on your head,” The Boring Co. website says.

Source: https://sputniknews.com/science/201711091058938136-uber-nasa-flying-cars-uber-air-2020/