How to tackle the PR challenge facing Uber’s Travis Kalanick August 27, 2017 Controversial former Uber chief Travis Kalanick has hired Teneo BlueRubicon to "refresh his tarnished image", according to reports. Though I can’t see confirmation on the record from either Kalanick or Teneo in the sources I’ve read, no denial from either party suggests a grain of truth. Real news or fake news, it makes the news [...]
Addison Lee’s licence to operate renewed for only six months as Transport for London considers fees after rise in Ubers | City A.M. August 25, 2017 Addison Lee’s licence has been extended for just six months as Transport for London considers increasing the cost of operating in the capital for mincab firms. London’s transport regulator is mulling an increase of costs for private hire vehicles with the rising number on the road and the increasing resources needed to regulate them since [...]
Apple’s driverless car project Titan has morphed into a staff shuttle bus as reports suggest a scaling back of ambitions August 23, 2017 Apple’s driverless car project, long-rumoured and only recently confirmed by boss Tim Cook, looks like it might be taking a back seat at the company. Its ambitions have been scaled back from a fully autonomous Apple car, to a shuttle bus for staff. Read more: “Hey Siri”: Now you can transfer money with just your [...]
TfL launches London walking challenge to encourage more people to navigate the capital on foot August 5, 2017 Transport for London (TfL) is challenging Londoners to get off the tube or out of their Uber and tackle the capital on foot. To celebrate 10 years since the “Legible London” street signs, the blue information boards which show maps of the surrounding area, walkers are being asked to have a go at visiting as [...]
On yer Mobike: Another cycle sharing scheme’s arrived in London after oBike, starting with Ealing July 31, 2017 It looks like Londoners will have more bike choices than ever before, as another cycle sharing scheme pulls up in the capital. Mobike, a Chinese startup unicorn (valued at more than a billion dollars, that is), will be available in Ealing from today, its first foray into the capital after a somewhat bumpy arrival in [...]
Transport for London delays English language tests for Uber and minicab (PHV) drivers again July 27, 2017 Transport for London has pushed back plans to introduce English language tests for Uber drivers again. It will now require those working for Uber and other minicab firms in the capital to show they have passed the test by July next year if they have applied for or renewed a licence since October last year. [...]
UK taxi turnover falls for the first time in five years as Uber drives up its network expansion July 24, 2017 The rise of Uber has driven taxi firms’ turnover off course, according to research out today from accountancy firm Moore Stephens. An analysis of the UK’s top 100 largest taxi and minicab firms noted that turnover had dipped three per cent from £495m in 2014/15 to £479m in 2015/16. There had been consistent growth in [...]
‘Personalised pricing’ could soon make it cheaper to buy your lunch at 3pm July 21, 2017 These days, consumers have generally come to terms with the idea the price they are asked to pay for, say, a train ticket or hotel room can fluctuate – and sometimes quite markedly – depending on when they make the purchase. It would presumably still come as a shock, however, if their local supermarket charged [...]
Graphcore lands $30m from top AI experts Demis Hassabis from Deepmind, Uber’s Zoubin Ghahramani and more along with Atomico and others | City A.M. July 20, 2017 Some of the world’s leading experts in artificial intelligence are among fresh investors to plough $30m into a Bristol-based chip startup. Google DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis and Zoubin Ghahramani, Uber’s chief scientist and Cambridge university professor, are among new investors in Graphcore, which makes chips that can process machine learning faster and more efficiently. It [...]
The pension pitfalls of the gig economy July 19, 2017 Our work lives are becoming increasingly malleable as millions of us turn our backs on steady nine-to-five jobs and choose to go freelance instead. Yes, we can now mould our job into a shape that fits neatly into our personal or financial lives, but this workplace revolution is by no means perfect, and has [...]