I have been reading a lot about the efficacy of ride sharing - remember when Uber first started, they were all about sharing the ride to work or a particular destination. For example, this is what my mum used to do for school runs with other mums in the area, each week one mum would pick up other kids and take them to the same school. That was what Uber was originally intended … [Read more...]
Saudi Driving Regulations Have Changed for the Positive
Back in September of last year (2017) the King of Saudi Arabia decreed that women could finally have the right to drive. This was a major change for what many people consider as an ultra-conservative country and it was a big win for the activists who ignored the ban (at their peril). Even though the change was announced in September, the lifting of the ban was due to happen … [Read more...]
Volvo supplies Uber with Robotaxis
Over the past few weeks I have discussed several topics surrounding autonomous vehicles and over the years have discussed Uber’s plans to take control of the logistics market whilst at the same time reduce their costs and dependency on humans. Last November, Uber and Volvo came to an agreement that would see 24,000 Volvo XC90 SUVs join the Uber fleet as autonomous ride … [Read more...]
Ride Sharing is Childs Play
I read a fascinating article recently about a startup in the US called HopSkipDrive. This is the “Uber” for children - and hopefully one that doesn’t come with the reputation that Uber has built for itself in many areas (geographically and morally). The idea came to a woman who had spent time at a children's birthday party bemoaning the fact that all she did was to shuttle … [Read more...]
Uber Self Driving Fleet
One of my first blog posts when I restarted Motoring Weekly was about autonomous vehicles and I theorised that sooner or later taxis and trucks would be self driving such that local economies would suffer due to reduced employment and the revenue from the services being extracted out of the locality and pushed to central domains, potentially offshore to minimise tax. My … [Read more...]