Uber’s Flying Taxis

“Uber has unveiled plans for a flying taxi at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The ride-sharing company on Tuesday showed off a full-size mock-up of the electric plane concept vehicle created with South Korean carmaker Hyundai, as it seeks to fly above traffic rather than add to it.”

— “Uber reveals plans for flying taxi to bypass road traffic congestion,” Joanna Partridge, The Guardian

Related:

“Uber, Hyundai Team Up On Flying Cars. Will Landing Portals Be Standard For Office Buildings By 2040?” Dees Stribling, Bisnow

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Tesla Robot Taxis?

Elon Musk must feel sorry for those exploited, underpaid Uber drivers. He wants to replace them with self-driving robot taxis. By next year.

“I feel very confident predicting 1 million autonomous robo-taxis for Tesla next year. Not in all jurisdictions because we won’t have regulatory approval everywhere, but I’m confident we will have regulatory approval at least somewhere, literally next year.”

— “Elon Musk says Tesla will have 1 million autonomous taxis on the road by next year,” Michael Burke, The Hill

More:

“Elon Musk thinks Tesla can build 1M ‘robotaxis’ in the next year,” Cale Guthre Weissman, Fast Company

“Tesla’s 2020 self-driving car promise sounds too good to be true because it is,” Emily Stewart, Recode

Update:

“Tesla’s long-shot robotaxi plan,” Joann Muller, Axios

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Uber Ahoy!

Uber Boat has launched in Mumbai. It’s a splashy way to avoid the city’s horrible traffic jams. Uber Boat already operates in Istanbul and Croatia.

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Uber is a Taxi Company

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Uber is a taxi company, not a digital information system, as the ride-hailing mobile app giant maintained. Down the road, that may mean drivers, who Uber claims are “contractors,”  will have more rights as employees.

More:

“Uber Is a Taxi Service, the E.C.J. Rules, in Major Setback for Firm,” Liz Alderman, New York Times

“Uber suffers setback as EU rules that it’s a transport service, not a digital company,” Sam Meredith and Arjun Kharpal, CNBC

“Europe’s top court just said Uber isn’t a tech company — it’s a cab company,” Zeeshan Aleem, Vox

“Uber is finally getting called on its biggest bluffs,” Alison Griswold, Quartz

“Could Europe’s Uber ruling affect the future of the gig economy?” Hamza Shaban, Washington Post

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NASA Prepares for Flying Taxis

Uber is joining NASA in developing software to manage air taxi control software. The ride sharing firm is working to develop a fleet of battery-powered flying cabs and hopes to test them in several cities in the next two years, with full implementation in time for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

What could possibly go wrong?