What Is No. 1 Reason Motorists Want Driverless Cars?

Driverless cars may not be here yet, but people are already open to the idea of riding in one, according to a survey by the World Economics Forum.

The WEF conducted a global survey on how people feel about self-driving vehicles and found that 58% of respondents would take a ride in a fully driverless car.

Tech Insider article here

Keywords

autonomous vehicles   driverless cars   mobile applications   mobile technology   self-driving vehicles   

 

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Taxi Managers Try To Get Drivers Back From The Dark Side

NEW YORK — A group of New York City taxi medallion managers are advocating to make it easier for Uber drivers to become yellow cab drivers.

The group, knows as the Committee For Taxi Safety, said they plan to petition the Taxi and Limousine Commission to allow Toyota Camry hybrids to be used as yellow cabs. The idea would be to attract Uber drivers making high lease payments on the green gas energy cars.

CBS NewYork article here

Related item: NYTLC Considers Annual Physicals For Taxi Drivers

Keywords

driver behavior   green vehicles   New York City   New York operators   New York Taxi & Limousine Commission   taxis   Uber   

 

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GBTA Finds Global Uncertainty Stunting Business Travel

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — U.S. business travel will grow only moderately in 2016 as global uncertainty looms, according to a key finding of the GBTA BTI Outlook: U.S. 2016 Q1, a report by the Global Business Travel Association Foundation.

The GBTA Foundation is the education and research arm of the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).

For the second release in a row, the forecast for U.S.-originated business travel has been slightly downgraded. The new report projects that business travel volume growth will increase slightly in the first quarter of 2016 – growing 1.8% on a year-over-year basis due to a number of domestic and international factors causing global uncertainty and corporate caution.

However, while the latest GBTA business travel forecast found that 2016 will resemble previous years with anemic but steady growth, there is cause for optimism about 2017 as the health of the global economy becomes clearer and a number of factors including the U.S. Presidential election and the possible “Brexit” of the United Kingdom from the EU become resolved later this year.

GBTA press release here

Keywords

business travel   business trends   corporate travel   GBTA   Global Business Travel Association   industry trends   international   research and trends   

 

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LCT Summit To Host Business Travel Expert Roundtable

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Two business travel experts will walk you through the do’s and don’ts for marketing to the fast-growing Millennial customer sector, during a round table discussion moderated by LCT Publisher Sara Eastwood-Richardson at the LCT Leadership Summit.

Millennials identify with brands more personally and emotionally than do older generations, viewing them as extensions of their own values and status. With the right infrastructure, you can create internal brand affinity among Millennial business travelers, leading to a successful travel program for the next five to 10 years and beyond.

The session will be held Monday, May 23 at 10 a.m. at the SLS South Beach Hotel conference site.

The speakers include Lenore D’Anzieri, director of business development for Limo Alliance and a former operator and business consultant; and Mark Williams, a partner at GoldSpring Consulting of Winston-Salem, N.C. LCT has pending arrangements with other experts to be announced.

Sara and the roundtable will focus on strategies for chauffeur vehicle providers to adapt “best practices” for working with the travel community. With radical changing technologies and customer demographics, such as Millenials taking over where Baby Boomers are leaving off, providers are finding totally different styles and expectations disrupting the old ways of doing business. This is leaving the industry scrambling to figure out how to hold on to their client books and grow their businesses.

The roundtable is one of several leading industry topics and trends to be presented at the annual Summit, a high-end executive-style think tank retreat that provides the industry’s only deep-view forum for ideas, best practices and high-touch networking.

With its focus on bringing operators together, the Summit also features a healthy roster of social and recreational activities in the most enticing, tropical city in the world.

EARLY SUMMIT REGISTRATION HERE

Related LCT Summit news:

• COO Can Show You How To Treat Clients Better
• NAVY Seal To Keynote Summit
• SLS Hotel Gets New Owner Last Year

Keywords

business travel   industry education   industry events   LCT Leadership Summit   Lenore D’Anzieri   Miami Beach   Millennials   Sara Eastwood-Richardson   

 

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Uber Shares Rider And Driver Data With Feds

In its first-ever transparency report, Uber has revealed that it has given federal and local U.S. agencies information on more than 12 million riders and drivers between July and December 2015.

This kind of report is not uncommon in the tech industry, but this particular one does something extra: It uses the report to take regulators to task for what Uber sees as excessive data sharing, making a case that it frequently tries to narrow the scope of requested information.

During this six-month period in 2015, Uber says it shared trip data with regulatory agencies, airport authorities and law enforcement agencies. Regulators received the majority of the data, which the report says involved 11.6 million riders and 583,000 drivers. The data Uber shared with airport authorities involved 1.6 million riders and 156,000 drivers.

NPR article here

Keywords

apps   data security   federal regulations   law enforcement   mobile applications   passenger safety   safety   TNCs   Uber   

 

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Upstate New York Operators Prepare For TNC Expansion

ALBANY, N.Y.— Faced with Uber lobbying state lawmakers to expand its operation throughout upstate New York, the Limousine, Bus & Taxi Operators of Upstate New York (LBTOUNY) is stepping up its efforts to counter TNCs that want to skirt established rules and regulations.

TNCs are only legal in New York City. Uber and Lyft are lobbying hard to establish a footprint in succeed in establishing Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, the state capital.

“First and foremost if any rules are adjusted for them (TNCs) then they should be adjusted for us so there isn’t unfair competition,” said Kevin Barwell, (Giorgio’s Limousine Service, Buffalo) and president of LBTOUNY.

“The competition is going to be harder for the taxi guys because of unfair competition, when our industry follows the rules and regulations, such as proper insurance and conducting background checks, which the TNCs do not. What we will fight for is a level playing field,” he added.

Barwell noted that legislators are becoming more aware of criminal incidents involving TNC drivers and the fact that they don’t pay sales taxes.

“Some politicians are getting cold feet about TNCs because they don’t want anything bad that happens come back to bite them, so they are more concerned now with TNCs following the established private transportation rules and regulations. Barwell added that the LBTOUNY continues to monitor the situation and make its voice heard in Albany to ensure fair competition “especially making sure the public is protected.”

Albany Business Review article here.

Keywords

Kevin Barwell   LBTOUNY   limo associations   NEW YORK   New York operators   regulatory enforcement   state regulations   TNCs   Uber   

 

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TNC Contract Drivers Have Hard Time With Taxes

Most working people in the United States are employees, meaning they file W-2s on tax day. But the independent contractors who deliver groceries for Instacart and drive for Lyft — not to mention those who teach yoga, cut hair, or consult independently — file what are known as 1099 forms, entering them into a whole different, and usually more complicated, tax process.

Matthew Whatley, aka the San Francisco “tax ninja,” realized a couple years ago most TNC drivers in the city “have no idea what they’re doing” when it comes to taxes. “Most of them haven’t filed in multiple years,” he says. “Nobody has a clue. None of them.” Whatley says a driver who’s making $50,000 a year could end up owing $6,000 to $7,000 in taxes, which can be a huge problem if you’re not budgeting for it. Now, Whatley hands out his business cards whenever he gets into an Uber or Lyft.

BuzzFeed article here

Keywords

business management   employee vs independent contractor   finance   independent contractor issues   Lyft   operator finance   taxes   TNCs   Uber   

 

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