Latest news with #rideshare
CBS News
a day ago
- CBS News
Man posing as rideshare driver sought in 2 sexual assaults on Near North Side
Chicago police issued an alert to rideshare passengers about two sexual assaults by a man they said posed as a rideshare driver. Both incidents happened on the Gold Coast and the Near North Side. The first happened around 5 a.m. on March 30 in the 1100 block of North DuSable Lake Shore Drive, and the second happened around 2:30 a.m. on July 19 in the 1500 block of North Wells Street. Police said the fake rideshare driver picked up female victims in a midsize black SUV, and later sexually assaulted them. The vehicle was not the one ordered by the victims via a ride-sharing app. Police did not give a detailed description of the suspect. Rideshare passengers are advised to verify that the picture and license plate from the rideshare app match the vehicle and driver, share their rideshare information and/or location with family or friends, and stay in communication with them while in a rideshare. Anyone with information is asked to contact Area 3 detectives at 312-744-8261 or submit an anonymous tip at using reference numbers JJ200277or JJ340067.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
Driving Angola's digital economy
From rideshare to digitizing food delivery, Angola's budding start-up ecosystem is driving a digital revolution across the country and providing new services for a growing middle class.
Motor Trend
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Lyft Enters Robotaxi Wars, Linking Up with Holon to Take on Uber, Waymo, and Tesla
The robotaxi wars are upon us. Not long after Uber and Lucid announced a partnership linking the rideshare and EV brands, Lyft has announced it will expand its own autonomous shuttle service working with Holon and its Urban shuttle through Benteler Mobility. It's all a part of Lyft's 'human-centered' strategy to create a hybrid rideshare network. Lyft partners with Holon and Benteler Group to expand its autonomous shuttle service, challenging Uber, Waymo, and Tesla. The fleet, featuring Holon's Urban shuttles, will deploy by 2026, overcoming tariff and regulatory challenges. Existing partnerships aid Lyft's robotaxi strategy. This summary was generated by AI using content from this MotorTrend article. Read Next Lyft is best known as the rideshare alternative to Uber and the pink mustaches its rideshare drivers attached to their vehicles years ago. (Now it's gone a bit boring with a light-up display that simply says 'Lyft.') While its fleet has relied on human drivers and regular vehicles since its start in 2012, Lyft has had plans for an autonomous fleet since December 2020, not long after the brand went public in 2019. Lyft had partnerships with several brands—including GM, Ford, and Magna International—but it sold this autonomous vehicle development to Toyota in April 2021 under the Woven Planet Holdings subsidiary (now known as Woven by Toyota). Since then, Lyft had remained a human-only rideshare brand until this partnership announcement with Holon and Benteler. Don't feel lost if you've never heard of Benteler Group or the Holon Urban autonomous shuttle. Holon was once an internal part of Benteler Group until 2022 when it was spun off as its own autonomous mover brand and began building the Urban, an autonomous shuttle that was designed by Pininfarina. While primarily focused on Germany, Holon has a U.S. presence with a regional headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan and a manufacturing facility under construction in Jacksonville, Florida that is scheduled to come online by 2026. Benteler Group is also split off into multiple brands that include automotive components, automotive modules including engines and chassis, and steel tube manufacturing among other businesses functions. It's been a silent partner for many automotive brands throughout its 150-year history. The two most pertinent parts of Benteler to today's announcement with Lyft are Benteler Mobility and Benteler Trading International with the latter offering fleet financing to pay for the purchasing, upkeep, and repairs of the Holon Urban shuttles that will be deployed. Benteler Mobility will offer its turnkey implementation of autonomous services for the Lyft fleet. While the partnership plans state the fleet will be deployed by 2026, there will be challenges it will need to get through. First, of course, are the upcoming tariff issues for anything manufactured outside the U.S. While this will be a temporary problem as Holon waits for the Jacksonville plant to open, it will be a significant one as it will add to the cost of the fleet. The second major issue is compliance with local communities and states to operate as a robotaxi service. Lyft is a bit more ahead of this game than most robotaxi startups thanks to its existing collaboration with May Mobility in Atlanta, Georgia, that's set to come online this year. It also has existing partnerships with Mobileye, Nexar, and Marubeni Corporation in autonomous fleet deployment and management since 2024.
CNN
5 days ago
- Automotive
- CNN
Women will soon be able to request a female Uber driver in these US cities
CrimeFacebookTweetLink Follow Uber is piloting a new option for its US app that will allow female passengers to request women drivers, coming after the company has long grappled with preventing sexual assault on its platform. The feature, called Women Preferences, will launch in a pilot stage in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit in the next few weeks, Uber said in a blog post on Wednesday. It marks the first time the popular ride share app is bringing this option to its service in the United States after launching it in 40 other countries. Uber joins Lyft and other taxi hailing apps, like HERide and Just Her Rideshare, that connect female passengers with women drivers. 'Across the US, women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips,' Camiel Irving, vice president of operations in the US and Canada, said in a press release. Women riders in cities where the feature is available will see a new option called Women Drivers. They'll also be able to pre-book rides with women drivers and set a preference in the app to be matched with a female driver. The feature works both ways; women drivers will be able to request female passengers too with a new 'Women Rider Preference' option in the settings menu. Riders and drivers will still be able to connect more broadly with non-female passengers and drivers if they wish, even with these preferences set. The company conducted testing and collected feedback from other markets like Germany and France to make sure the feature would work reliably considering most Uber drivers are men, Irving wrote in Uber's blog post. Sexual assault has been a problem for Uber for years; nearly 6,000 sexual assault reports were made from 2017-2018, according to Uber's safety report. That number has dropped significantly to 2,717 by 2022, the report says, although five passengers sued Uber in 2022 over sexual assault incidents that occurred between August 2021 and February 2022. The California Public Utilities Commission fined Uber $59 million in 2020 for not handing over sexual assault data, but that fine was slashed to $150,000 after the company cut a deal requiring it to provide anonymized data on sexual assault incidents. Uber has launched other features to promote safety in recent years, such as a hub in the app for managing safety preferences.
CNN
5 days ago
- Automotive
- CNN
Women will soon be able to request a female Uber driver in these US cities
Uber is piloting a new option for its US app that will allow female passengers to request women drivers, coming after the company has long grappled with preventing sexual assault on its platform. The feature, called Women Preferences, will launch in a pilot stage in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit in the next few weeks, Uber said in a blog post on Wednesday. It marks the first time the popular ride share app is bringing this option to its service in the United States after launching it in 40 other countries. Uber joins Lyft and other taxi hailing apps, like HERide and Just Her Rideshare, that connect female passengers with women drivers. 'Across the US, women riders and drivers have told us they want the option to be matched with other women on trips,' Camiel Irving, vice president of operations in the US and Canada, said in a press release. Women riders in cities where the feature is available will see a new option called Women Drivers. They'll also be able to pre-book rides with women drivers and set a preference in the app to be matched with a female driver. The feature works both ways; women drivers will be able to request female passengers too with a new 'Women Rider Preference' option in the settings menu. Riders and drivers will still be able to connect more broadly with non-female passengers and drivers if they wish, even with these preferences set. The company conducted testing and collected feedback from other markets like Germany and France to make sure the feature would work reliably considering most Uber drivers are men, Irving wrote in Uber's blog post. Sexual assault has been a problem for Uber for years; nearly 6,000 sexual assault reports were made from 2017-2018, according to Uber's safety report. That number has dropped significantly to 2,717 by 2022, the report says, although five passengers sued Uber in 2022 over sexual assault incidents that occurred between August 2021 and February 2022. The California Public Utilities Commission fined Uber $59 million in 2020 for not handing over sexual assault data, but that fine was slashed to $150,000 after the company cut a deal requiring it to provide anonymized data on sexual assault incidents. Uber has launched other features to promote safety in recent years, such as a hub in the app for managing safety preferences.
