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Morning, urbanists! The ongoing changes in the nature of urban transportation is one of the topics I
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| November 19 · Issue #9 · View online |
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Morning, urbanists! The ongoing changes in the nature of urban transportation is one of the topics I find incredibly interesting, and ensuring the transformation is done in an equitable fashion is essential to ensuring our cities work for everyone, not just the (shrinking) middle-class and those even wealthier. Tech companies also seem to understand this, and are positioning themselves to be essential to the future of urban transit. Uber seems to be taking an aggressive approach to try to capture as much of the market for itself as possible — and is running into an increasing wave of opposition, particularly in London — while Lyft and Google look to be positioning themselves as platforms for urban services. However, we also need to ask ourselves if we want private companies to monopolize particular aspects of our cities, particularly who would benefit and whether their incentives are aligned with those of residents. The acceleration of the transformation also makes this a particularly exciting time. Yes, there is some disruption in the switch from personal vehicles to transit, cycling, and walking, but there are also significant health and social benefits. A new report suggests that this shift will also reduce inequality, which has become one of the defining issues of our time. As always, feel free to let me know what you think of this issue on Twitter, and make sure to share it with anyone you think will be interested. — Paris
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🚨 Uber loses appeal in UK employment rights case
Last year, a UK court ruled that Uber had to treat its drivers as employees, granting them minimum wage and other employment rights. Uber appealed the ruling, and has lost, but plans to appeal to an even higher court. However, the position of the courts seems quite unanimous, and sooner or later it Uber’s UK drivers will get treated like employees, setting an important precedent for drivers elsewhere in the world. One of the drivers who brought the case said the following about the ruling: It’s about making sure workers across the UK are protected. Companies are hiding behind technology, bogusly classifying people as self-employed so they can get away from paying minimum wage. That can’t be allowed to happen.
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Uber drivers in Lagos, Nigeria sue for employee status
Of course, the UK isn’t the only place where drivers are fighting for employment rights. As reported in issue 7, Africa is becoming a larger market for Uber (Egypt, in particular), but drivers in Lagos, Nigeria are the latest to take the company to court in an effort to be classified as workers instead of independent contractors. |
The threats to Uber’s exploitative business model are piling up in the United Kingdom. A few months ago, London announced it would take away the company’s operating license without a major change in its operating practices to adhere to basic safety requirements. For more on the company’s challenge in London, as well as an article on how it thrives off the desperation of a growing number of people who are struggling to find well-paid jobs, see issue 1. |
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Excellent Uber Ad Distills the Problem With Uber in Crowded Cities
There’s no question that the design of streets will have to change to move away from the dominance of private vehicles toward a future where there’s far more priority placed on transit, walking, and cycling. Uber recently released an ad showing why simply having a bunch of people in individual vehicles doesn’t work in urban areas, but failed to realize that this also applies to its own service since, as issue 4 showed, ride-hailing takes riders from transit and increases congestion in major cities. |
🚨 What Happens When Lyft Redesigns A Street
While Uber is trying to cannibalize public transit to become the sole provider of transportation in cities (see issue 7), Lyft seems to be taking a different approach. It recently unveiled a plan for the future of Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, in partnership with Perkins + Will and Nelson\Nygaard, which embraces walking, cycling, and transit, along with driverless vehicles and increased public space. This not only makes the street a more pedestrian-friendly space, but it allows far more people to move along it. |
Plan for the future of Wilshire Blvd (source: Co.Design)
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Lyft hires Uber’s pricing expert to help figure out its impact on the city of the future
But why is Lyft taking a more collaborative approach? It’s very simple. While Uber wants to become the dominant transit provider, Lyft seems to be positioning itself as the platform through which urban transportation will take place. It envisions its app to become an “open platform” through which multiple transit options are available, including public transit, and the app would show the quickest possible routes. While interesting, it sounds like something Google Maps already does, and given Google seems to want to become the platform for urban services (see issue 5), Lyft may have some competition in this space. |
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🚨 The Link Between Cars and Income Inequality
There’s growing evidence that alternative modes of transportation reduce inequality in cities, but the researchers make the important point that transit is only one factor, and increasing access to transit, walking, and cycling alone will not solve the record levels of inequality we now face. However, it is a step in the right direction. Having a robust, diverse transportation system has been linked to a variety of benefits for cities and people. There’s improved health, lower costs and less pollution. But a recent study looks specifically at the connection between multimodality and income inequality, finding a significant correlation between the two. Looking at 148 midsize cities across the country, researchers found that income inequality declined when the percentage of commuters using some form of transportation other than single occupancy vehicles increased.
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De Blasio’s Wrong: Poor New Yorkers Stand to Gain a Lot From Congestion Pricing
In New York City, mayor Bill De Blasio is arguing against a congestion charge on drivers by saying it will hurt the poor, but that is demonstrably false. A very small number of poor people in the outer boroughs drive into the city for work, while far more would benefit from the transit improvements that would be possible as a result of the money gained from the congestion charge.
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Don't Believe the Microtransit Hype
To maximize ridership, microtransit companies focus exclusively on the most traveled corridors, which are often the most popular bus routes. Leap, Loup, and Chariot got their start on San Francisco’s Route 30. But with 14-person capacity, microtransit’s mini-buses do not compare to 40-foot transit buses that can carry up to 80 people. It is hard to say whether microtransit increases or reduces traffic overall, which depends on the transportation modes customers switched from. But in any case, microtransit takes away riders and revenue from transit agencies’ most popular routes. This makes it more difficult for transit agencies to provide service to isolated neighborhoods and mobility for those who cannot afford the higher fares charged by private companies.
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The Urbanist Case Against UberAir - CityLab
Ride-hailing companies already seem to be undermining [the goal of denser neighborhoods, and more walkable, transit-connected streets]; UberAir would do so even more explicitly. Setting aside the the many practical questions yet to be answered (the electro-choppers don’t quite exist yet, for one), the fundamental model here—a network of private, high-rise launchpads—does not a walkable city make. Nor an equitable one: Even if UberAir somehow overcomes the safety, technology, and regulatory challenges and delivers on super-low fares, consider that adoption of UberX has been highly uneven across income and education brackets. Poorer Americans aren’t riding Ubers and Lyfts like they’re riding transit. Meanwhile, bus routes are getting shortened and slashed. Ride-hailing, even when it’s shared, is creating a new class of transportation. UberCopters would give rise to an even loftier one.
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