The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, In light of the recent tragedy in South Carolina,
Assemblyman Kevin J. Rooney shares a few tips to keep in mind when using ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft. According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, here are the steps you can take to ensure a safe ride:
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Alpine NJ, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo announced the arrest of DEARAN BENNETT (DOB: 09/12/1983; single; Uber Driver) of Brooklyn, New York, on charges of Sexual Assault. The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Robert Anzilotti and the Alpine Police Department under the direction of Chief Christopher Belcolle.
Continue reading Uber Driver Charged with Sexual Assault in Bergen County
photo courtesy of Fair Lawn Police Department
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Fair Lawn NJ, Fair Lawn Police report that At 11:02 am yesterday the 27th of November officers responded to a one car motor vehicle accident into a tree. Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. The operator was suspected driving while intoxicated and blew three times the legal limit! It is not worth it, take an Uber or Lyft or some other means besides getting behind the wheel!
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced today that the ride-sharing company Uber Technologies, Inc. has agreed to pay a total of $148 million to resolve a multi-jurisdiction investigation into a data breach that compromised the personal information of Uber riders and drivers. New Jersey’s share of the recovery is approximately $3.75 million.
Continue reading Uber Settles Largest Multi-State Data Breach Settlement Ever
Wait, so the argument now is… because a previous council approved the building of condos, in order to “save” the Village we need to appease the developers and build a garage for them given that they will obviously not have the needed parking spaces for their new tenants….and if we don’t build this thing, this town will become a glorified Rt 17 strip filled with gyms, banks and more condos? Come on people…..let’s all assume they build this thing, how does that change anything in terms of the parking landscape in this town? Yes, commuters will use it, yes shoppers will use it, but lets be realistic, probably only those looking to shop on Broad St or very close to it. We all know that everyone in this town or those that come here want to park right across the street from where they’re going, as stated in many of the posts before, if you look for parking you will find it, but you may have to walk a bit. So the taxpayers of this town should spend millions of dollars to alleviate a problem that may or may not exist for two to three hours on Friday and Saturday nights?? Do the math, it doesn’t add up and with Uber that problem is going away. Let’s spend money on updating the current run down parking lots we have or reconfigure current parking lanes and see how that goes….what’s the downside? We need to stop looking backward and look forward….Uber and Amazon to name a few are changing how we live our lives….less brick and mortar, less cars being driven for nights out….that’s the future, not building a garage that maybe in 1990 there was a solid argument for.
Kif Leswing, provided by
Published 8:57 am, Sunday, April 23, 2017
REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
Apple CEO Tim Cook once personally told Uber CEO Travis Kalanick that the Uber app violated Apple’s privacy rules, and threatened to remove Uber from Apple’s App Store, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The issue in the reported early-2015 meeting was that Uber had a system to identify iPhones after they had been wiped and the Uber app had been deleted — something Uber was doing to combat driver fraud in China.
https://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Tim-Cook-said-this-word-5-times-on-Apple-s-4523559.php
The sharing economy is here to stay no matter what anyone says. Our kids will take self-drive uber cars to work and play, and stay at Air BnB shared accommodations on business trips and holidays. The fact that Ridgewood isn’t a destination probably means it never takes off here anyway, but luddites rule in NJ and Ridgewood. Tesla’s online sales model was banned because it messes with car dealers, uber is a threat to cabbies, and Air BnB threatens hotels. Why aren’t we asking what is wrong with the conventional wisdom on these issues instead of the immediate reaction to block change?
Updated: DECEMBER 29, 2016 — 1:08 AM EST
by Andrew Seidman, TRENTON BUREAU @AndrewSeidman
Ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft have been operating in New Jersey for years, but the state doesn’t regulate how they contract with drivers, insure, or provide other protections to consumers.
That could change soon, pending Gov. Christie’s approval.
During a marathon session before the holidays, the Democratic-controlled Legislature voted overwhelmingly to pass a bill that specifies how much insurance ride-hailing companies must maintain, and establishes requirements for conducting background checks on drivers.
So-called transportation network companies would be prohibited from discriminating against riders based on their destination, race, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity, among other things.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, We had the rare treat at last night’s council meeting , hearing from Rurik Halaby not once but twice in one evening. In opening comments he expressed dismay with all the legal fees this council is incurring (thank you Paul Aronsohn), the “secret” search for a new manager who will most likely be a friend of a current council member (as opposed to a friend of Paul Aronsohn ) and that too much is being done in closed session.
Cathy Quinn spoke in defense of maintaining the no parking on Pomander Walk. lo and behold she is an Episcopal minister at Gwenn Hauck’s church, St. Elizabeth in Ridgewood. Many remember that Gwenn pushed and pushed for the “no parking” zone on Pomander and now we know why.
Later in the evening, Mr Halaby was in fine form as he praised former mayor Paul Aronsohn for his lovely column in The Ridgewood News and then said that Susan should be doing the same as the “public” (the six people who still like Paul Aronsohn) is in the dark with this new council.
Thankfully, Anne Loving stepped up to the mic to say that Paul’s self-serving column gave little information and The Ridgewood News was doing a great job with weekly articles dedicated to the council meetings.
Rurik went on to make some muddled comments about a puppet council who in some ways was like or not like Donald Trump based on some notion of over regulation. He also blamed the recent vacancies on some of the boards and committees on the community’s dissatisfaction with the council ( not the removal of incompetent political hacks hired by Paul Aronsohn). Thankfully, his 5 minutes were up.
His wife, the acerbic Cynthia Halaby of daffodil fame, had admonished the council earlier for the condition of the trees and for making references to Summit, NJ in the Uber discussion when Summit is nothing like Ridgewood.
Mike Sedon gave a praise worthy report on the new Five Year Forestry Management Plan which will allow for numerous grant opportunities and training for village employees and Shade Tree Commission volunteers to address our dwindling stock.
The Uber discussion actually went quite well and it looks as though we will do a 6-month pilot program starting in January. A resolution is on the table for next week’s meeting and the village CFO will run some projections on expected revenues taking into consideration subsidies and the gain or loss of premium parking passes.
Ridgewood Guild president and town whiner, Tony Damiano spoke way too long on why isn’t he being informed on a regular basis about every project sanctioned by the village. Susan tried to address his concerns but he was too busy complaining to hear her.Perhaps the Ridgewood Guild needs better more informed leadership?
Boyd Loving once again was great addressing leaf issues with very good suggestions about how we should inform the landscapers of changes in our policies, Village regulation changes and pick up schedule . He also suggested a listing on the village website of the registered landscapers so that residents can make more informed choices , The registered list would also make enforcement easier.
Pilot program is meant to test out ride-hailing as a solution to last mile challenge
by Andrew J . Hawkins Oct 3, 2016, 10:56a
Lately, Uber has been positioning itself as the ultimate solution to the eternal challenge of shuttling people between transit hubs and their homes, also known as the “last mile challenge.” To that end, the ride-hail giant announced today that it struck a deal with the suburban town of Summit, New Jersey, to launch the state’s first subsidized commuter program.
Under the deal, Uber will offer free or extremely cheap rides to commuters who have struggled to find parking at Summit’s New Jersey Transit station. In exchange, the city, which is 30 miles from Manhattan, will subsidize the rides, paying Uber directly to cover the costs of the trips. The city says the deal will help free up nearly 100 parking spots at the transit station, as well as keep it from having to spend millions of dollars to build additional parking.
“As an alternative transportation option, ridesharing is not new,” said Summit Mayor Nora Radest in a statement. “But our program is the first of its kind in the United States to use ridesharing technology as a parking solution. Our innovation has the potential to shape how municipalities think about and implement parking options in the future.”
https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/3/13147680/uber-new-jersey-free-ride-parking-lot-train-commute
Last week, Senators Joe Kyrillos (R-13) and Paul Sarlo (D-36) announced a bill aimed at creating statewide regulations for ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. Today, Assembly Democrats Joe Lagana (D-38), Troy Singleton (D-7) and John Wisniewski (D-19) introduced a similar bill in the assembly (A3695). Alyana Alfaro, PolitickerNJ Read more
As a proposal to regulate Uber and other car-hailing services moves closer to becoming reality in Newark, the company says it is prepared to take its cars and go home. Dan Ivers, NJ.com, Read more
FEBRUARY 2, 2016 LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016, 5:25 PM
BY RICHARD NEWMAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Following the lead of angry Uber drivers in New York City, the ride-hailing service’s contract drivers in New Jersey are planning a work stoppage and demonstration next week to protest recent fare cuts, the head of a new statewide trade association said Tuesday.
Patrick J. McManus, president of the fledgling New Jersey App-Based Drivers Association, said Tuesday the trade group will meet Wednesday in Woodbridge to discuss plans to protest “probably on Monday,” at Uber’s New Jersey office in Hoboken. There are 13,000 Uber drivers in New Jersey.
If they do it would be the second such action in the New York metropolitan area this month. Hundreds of Uber drivers demonstrated this Monday in front of Uber’s New York City headquarters in Queens to protest the recent 15-percent rate cuts.
Rates paid to drivers who provide UberX service were cut 15 percent to 85 cents a mile throughout most of New Jersey Jan. 9 and drivers are very unhappy about it, said McManus. The Edison resident drives as an independent contractor for both Uber Technologies and its largest rival, Lyft.
“This is the third or fourth rate cut that [Uber’s] done,” McManus said Tuesday in a phone interview. “It’s a chase to the bottom. They are cheapening the job.”
Ride-sharing app, which just closed a funding round, reaches mark faster than Facebook
By
DOUGLAS MACMILLAN and TELIS DEMOS
Updated July 31, 2015 8:50 p.m. ET
Uber Technologies Inc. has completed a new round of funding that values the five-year-old ride-hailing company at close to $51 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, equaling Facebook Inc.’s record for a private, venture-backed startup.
Uber raised close to $1 billion in the round, one of the people said, bringing the San Francisco company’s total funding to more than $5 billion. Uber had briefed investors on a plan to raise between $1.5 billion and $2 billion in the round, The Wall Street Journal reported in May.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-valued-at-more-than-50-billion-1438367457
Uber, Lyft Rider Safety or Union Push to Raise Rates
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft could be driven out of New Jersey if a bill lawmakers are considering becomes law.
That’s at least what the transportation network companies faced with potential new regulations say. Lawmakers, unionized taxicab drivers and other supporters of the legislation argue the bill promotes public safety.
Lawmakers across the country are beginning to turn their attention to regulating ride-hailing firms. Already eight states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws addressing them, according to a tally from the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, a trade group that supports the bill in New Jersey. Four other states await action on measures from their governors.
In New Jersey, legislators are beginning to focus on Gov. Chris Christie’s 2016 budget, so a bipartisan measure regulating the ride-hailing companies is stalled at the moment after passing an Assembly committee in March — though lawmakers and other observers are optimistic it will continue to weave its way through the Legislature.
A similar bill in the state Senate is awaiting committee action. Christie typically does not comment on bills before they reach his desk.
The legislation calls for a number of new requirements, including requiring ride-hailing firms to display a Motor Vehicle Commission marker when drivers are searching for fares, background checks for drivers as well as safety inspections for vehicles.
Proponents argue the measure protects riders from public safety concerns by requiring criminal background checks through the State Police. They also say the bill would “level the playing field” between ride-hailing firms, which frequently charge lower rates, and taxis, which are already heavily regulated.
Lionel Leach, the president of Communication Workers of America Local 1039, which represents about 300 cab drivers in New Jersey, pointed to a recent news report that alleged a rider nearly became the robbery victim of a driver. New Jersey does not track crime statistics by cab, livery or ride-hailing services, making claims difficult to vet.
Leach says companies like Uber have given taxicab drivers a wakeup call by innovating and that ride-booking companies improve the industry overall. “Look, at the end of the day, it’s great technology,” he said. “But my concern is not about how cheap their fares are. It’s the public safety part of it.”
The companies say they’re dedicated to safety. Uber announced plans last month to establish a safety advisory board to review the firm’s practices.
Uber and Lyft have also taken steps to expand insurance coverage, a major sticking point in the regulations debate.
