Category Archives: sharing economy

Business TREND. Insurance Policies for Ride Share Riders.

Business: Startup Sure Inc. and underwriter Chubb

The insurance policy: 

  • “RideSafe” policies for ride share passengers
  • accidental medical, death and dismemberment insurance coverage for the ride

Doesn’t ride share cover liaility insurance that covers passengers? Yes, but this policy will:

  • cover some of those gaps in coverage
  • cover medical copayments
  • cover times when the ride share libaility poliocy is not in effect
  • cost is $2.40 for 24 hours of coverage on any number of rides

Availaibilit…

+1 Major City Electric Scooter Ordinance. 3 Points from Messaging from E Scooter Companies

CITY: San Francisco

San Francisco’s ordinance sets up:

  • The Powered Scooter Share Permit Program
  • 1 year pilot program
  • Up to 5 e-scooter operator permits will be issued
  • initial  6 months, as many as 1,250 scooters may be permitted.
  • An increase can occur and allow  up to 2,500 scooters 

What are e-scooter companies’ positions?

  • conciliatory
  • want to operate in legal framework
  • “meaningful and responsible part of your transportation landscape”
  • committed to the Save Our Sidewalks Pledge to…

+1 Coastal City New Electric Scooter Rules. Cap scrapped in favor of this:

City: Santa Monica

The new electric scooter rules:

  • 6-month pilot program
  • dynamic cap the number of electric scooters and bicycles (not set yet and can be extended)
    • the 1500 cap was scrapped
  • limit the number of companies that operate the vehicles
  • impose a fee on the companies for operations $20,000 operation fee + $50 per vehicle

Does Santa Monica have a history with electric scooters? Yes, it was the 1st city Bird offered scooters in starting September 2017

CNET | Santa Monica hits…

New National Academies Study. Public Transit not murdered by Ride Share

The Study:   Who’s Riding TNCs and What Does It Mean for Public Agencies?, by  Shared-Use Mobility Center, an imprint of the Transit Cooperative Research Program at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in partnership with an unnamed ride share company

Key to be informed: peak ridership of TNCs occurred when public transit scales back- nights & weekend

Gov Tech | Think Uber and Lyft Are Killing Transit? Think Again

 

 

Local Ride Share Trend. Capping Prices.

City: Honolulu

What was the response from the taxi industry?  Supporters of the surge pricing cap held signs that read “equal rights for taxi drivers,”

Does the local ordinance set a cap or delegate that authority? Honolulu’s director of customer services will set the surge pricing cap

Government Technology | Honolulu Passes Bill to Cap Uber, Lyft Surge Prices

+1 State Taxing Ride Share by Cutting Other Taxes. 6 Talking Points.

Iowa Legislature passed the largest tax cut in state history and adds sales taxes on ride share and online or app purchases.

Iowa’s Governor said the following 6 points about the tax cut:

  • immediate and significant tax relief
  •  It’s simple
  • It’s transparent
  • It’s fair for Main Street
  • Most importantly, it’s sustainable for our state budget
  • fiscally responsible for the long-term … ensuring that we can fund our key priorities like education, health care and public safety,” she said.

What is…

Legal Trend. Ride Share and Open Records. State Supreme Court Opens Records

State: Washington

The State Court: Washington State Supreme Court

The standard for releasing open records: records can withheld “only if disclosure would clearly not be in the public interest and would substantially and irreparably damage a person or a vital government interest.”

What’s the big deal?

  • Researchers across the country, including in Texas, want the data
  • The data from taxi fares has been available for 40 years

Seattle Times | Uber and Lyft may have to disclose Seattle data they…

7 Points from the Right on Regulating Electric Scooters.

Empower Texas sets up itscall for state action on the economic innovation of electric scooters by  highlighting 7 problems with Austin’s electric scooter proposal:

  • Requiring expensive locking mechanism on each scooter
  • Engine power caps that limit scooter use on hills
  • Data Sharing Requirements. Full access of scooter and customer data afforded to the city.
  • Large fees for additional scooters over the first 500
  • Low Incoe distribution requirements. “A plan to the city for rollout of the…