San Francisco’s slowness in rolling out curbside charging has many local causes: limited permit-desk staffing, competing priorities for crowded streets, electrical constraints and the lack of any one department empowered to say yes.
Category: Transportation
Posted inCalifornia, Public Safety, Ride-Hailing’s Dark Data, Transportation
California Regulators Voted to Release Ride-Hailing Safety Reports. Then They Didn’t.
California’s ride-hailing regulator has repeatedly promised to release safety data on Uber and Lyft — most recently voting last August to do so. It still hasn’t, leaving the public in the dark about the scope of driver assaults and whether the agency has done its job.
Posted inCity Hall, Community, Economy & Business, Elections, Government & Politics, Health, Homelessness, Housing, Immigration, Neighborhoods, Public Safety, Social Justice, Social Services, Transportation
San Franciscans Speak Out on the Top Issues Facing Their Neighborhoods
In this street interview series taken during the “No Kings” protest in March, people across the city spoke candidly about what matters most where they live, and what they want local leaders to pay attention to.
Posted inCalifornia, Climate Change, Environment, Transportation
Vehicle Electrification in California at a Turning Point
As state officials debate how to support adoption of carbon-free mobility, some EV boosters say the government has to stop touting eco-goals or offering incentives, and “get the hell out of the way” as the market grows.
Posted inCalifornia, Climate Change, Environment, Transportation
California Proposes Charging Subsidies, Rebates to Boost EVs — but Leaves Key Details Unsettled
California regulators Tuesday released a set of proposals recommitting the state to consistent promotion of clean transportation, largely in response to the collapse of federal support for transitioning the economy away from fossil fuels.
Posted inClimate Change, Environment, Transportation
New California EV Plans Could Lower Costs, Expand Charging
California is preparing to roll out new policy ideas to keep electric vehicle adoption on pace after Congress and the White House scrapped federal purchase subsidies and cut funding for EV infrastructure. On Monday, regulators plan to give Gov. Gavin Newsom a menu of proposals to expand charging, lower costs and accelerate the transition away […]
Posted inEnvironment, Transportation
California Weighs New EV Incentives Backed by Fee on Gas Cars and Trucks
Congressional Republicans and President Trump have killed the U.S. electric vehicle rebate program, with most payments ending after September — to the dismay of climate-conscious car buyers. Now California regulators are evaluating an economically elegant but politically unproven idea to replace it: “feebates.”
The policy is a hybrid — part fee, part consumer rebate. Tacking an extra charge on the sale of gas-powered cars or trucks could raise the billions of dollars needed to subsidize the rapid adoption of zero-emission transportation, encouraging many buyers to make the switch.
Posted inArtificial Intelligence, Economy & Business, Labor, News, Technology, Transportation
Drivers Protest Uber’s ‘Black Box’ Fare System
Uber’s use of secretive fare pricing algorithms driven by artificial intelligence lowers drivers’ wages, causes them confusion and uncertainty, and could undermine public safety — all while boosting company profits to record levels.
That’s the conclusion of a new report surveying more than 2,500 Uber drivers and the message sounded by dozens who protested July 1 outside the company’s San Francisco headquarters.
Drivers say the company’s opaque fare-pricing algorithms have been hurting their income and wellbeing. The protesters’ signs echoed conclusions from the report by PowerSwitch Action and Gig Workers Rising, grassroots organizations representing workers and labor interests.
Posted inCalifornia, Economy & Business, Public Safety, Transportation
Uber Submitted False Information to Regulators, Used Substandard Limousines, Agency Rules
Uber must pay a $50,000 fine for submitting false information to state regulators about numerous substandard rides it provided on its Uber Black luxury limousine service, violating a fundamental rule that officials said caused “harm to the regulatory process.”
In the previously unreported final decision, the California Public Utilities Commission found that San Francisco-based Uber had lax review procedures and failed to detect obviously falsified limousine licenses presented to it by independent limousine companies that Uber had subcontracted to give rides on Uber Black.