Latest Sharing Economy Headlines

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

South Carolina Lawmakers Weigh Rideshare Safety Measures

May 2 2019 // South Carolina lawmakers are considering another proposal to improve ridesharing safety.A bill that would create a new misdemeanor crime of impersonating a rideshare driver was approved Tuesday by a House subcommittee....

Oregon Crash Kills Uber Passenger

Apr 23 2019 // Portland, Ore. police say a man driving a stolen pickup truck 100 mph crashed into a sport-utility vehicle, killing an Uber passenger.Police believe the pickup truck driver was under the influence of intoxicants when he...

Murder of South Carolina College Student Prompts Uber Safety Changes

Apr 22 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc. said it was rolling out new safety features to help riders avoid fake rideshare drivers, two weeks after the murder of a college student who got into her killer’s car mistakenly believing it...

Car Sharing Lobbyists Battle Car Renting Lobbyists, Driving State Lawmakers Crazy

Apr 19 2019 // The bill that turned Illinois into the focal point of a bitter debate over car-sharing last year started as a proposal about what happens when a rental car is stolen. The legislation, which would allow rental companies to...

Investors Sue Lyft, Alleging IPO ‘Overhyped’

Apr 18 2019 // Lyft Inc. was sued by investors who claim the ride-sharing company overstated its market position when it went public last month, leading to a dramatic plunge in its stock price.Two separate class-action complaints against...

Brake Complaints Cause Lyft to Replace 3,000 Electric Bikes in 3 Cities

Apr 15 2019 // Lyft Inc. is removing several thousand electric bikes from service in its bike-share program in New York, Washington and San Francisco because of a braking problem, the ride-hailing company said on Sunday.“We...

Why Uber ‘Depends Heavily’ on Insurance

Apr 15 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc., on its way to an initial public offering that some media reports say could raise $10 billion, might not be in the position it is in without insurance.“Our business depends heavily on insurance...

Americans Still Don’t Trust Autonomous Vehicles, Reuters Poll Shows

Apr 15 2019 // Half of U.S. adults think automated vehicles are more dangerous than traditional vehicles operated by people, while nearly two-thirds said they would not buy a fully autonomous vehicle, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos...

Sponsor of S.C. Bill Requiring Lighted Uber Signs Say Just First Safety Step

Apr 12 2019 // A lawmaker sponsoring a bill in South Carolina requiring Uber, Lyft and other ride sharing drivers to have a lighted sign said he knows it isn’t a foolproof way to keep riders safe.But Rep. Seth Rose said it is an...

SoftBank’s Maneuvers Reflect Expanded U.S. Scrutiny of Foreign Investors

Apr 12 2019 // SoftBank Group Corp. has agreed to give up board seats and access to sensitive information, take a more passive role in startups and make other concessions to get government clearance for its technology deals in the United...

Uber, Before IPO, Joins Others in Adjusting Timeline for Driverless Cars

Apr 9 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc. expects it will be a long time before one of its biggest investments, self-driving cars, is ready for wide-scale deployment, a senior scientist said on Monday, as the ride-sharing firm gears up to go...

UK Broker Price Forbes Taps Hewett from JLT as Leader of Sharing Economy Practice

Apr 2 2019 // Price Forbes, a London-based broker, has appointed Emma Hewett as leader of its Sharing Economy practice.Price Forbes said its Sharing Economy practice was one of the first established broking teams to specialize in...

Americans Still Don’t Trust Autonomous Vehicles: Reuters/Ipsos Poll

Apr 2 2019 // Half of U.S. adults think automated vehicles are more dangerous than traditional vehicles operated by people, while nearly two-thirds said they would not buy a fully autonomous vehicle, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos...

Uber Wins Dismissal of Investor Suit Over Acquisition of Truck Firm Otto

Apr 2 2019 // Travis Kalanick, the co-founder of ride-hailing company Uber, and the company’s directors won the dismissal of an investor lawsuit that sought to hold them liable for a fight over trade secrets that slowed...

IPO-Bound Lyft Tells Investors Lowering Insurance Costs Is Priority

Mar 21 2019 // Lyft Inc. executives are focused on cutting insurance costs and will phase in self-driving vehicles on simple routes first, they said at a road show for investors ahead of the ride-hailing company’s initial public...

No Criminal Liability for Uber in Fatal 2018 Arizona Self-Driving Car Crash

Mar 18 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc. is not criminally liable in a March 2018 crash in Tempe, Ariz., in which one of the company’s self-driving cars struck and killed a pedestrian, prosecutors said earlier this month.The Yavapai...

Airbnb Loses Huge Battle Over California City’s Rental Law

Mar 14 2019 // Airbnb Inc. and Expedia Group Inc.’s HomeAway failed to persuade a U.S. court of appeals to strike down a Santa Monica law that makes the companies liable for illicit rentals in the Southern California beach city.The...

As It Prepares IPO, Uber Settles Driver Classification Disputes for $20 Million

Mar 13 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc. will pay $20 million to settle California lawsuits challenging the company’s classification of drivers as independent contractors, and not employees owed the benefits of traditional...

Uber Paying $20M to Settle Long-Running Legal Battle With Drivers

Mar 12 2019 // Uber Technologies Inc. has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit brought by drivers nearly six years ago, according to court filings, resolving one of its many legal battles with drivers ahead of a hotly...

Turning Sharing Into a Sales Pitch for Pricier New Cars

Mar 11 2019 // The ability to rent his car to strangers for cash convinced Trevor Davis, a high-school teacher in Dallas, to buy a brand-new Honda Civic instead of a used car. “I was going to get something real cheap, an...