Update: Taxify has responded to our request for comment, and issued the following statement. It told Memeburn that it takes these incidents "very seriously". "Safety of both our riders and driver-partners is our priority. Our team has contacted both parties involved in the incident. Unfortunately, it is a complicated word against word situation as the driver's part of the story is very different." The company also revealed the driver's side of the argument: Rider requested a ride, inserted Braamfontein as a destination in the app (this is not a specific address and Taxify team can confirm it was so from the system). They...
Three cars were torched in Sandton Thursday evening in a suspected protest between metered taxi drivers and Uber. According to provincial spokesperson Captain Mavela Masondo, preliminary investigations showed two of the cars belonged to Uber, and the third was a metered taxi. No one was harmed. Images and videos of the incident poured onto Twitter as #Uber hit top trending spot nationally. .@TimesLIVE richest square km in Africa (Sandton) is burning as metered and uber drivers set each others vehicles alight pic.twitter.com/GtpJw9FKSV — Graeme Hosken (@GraemeHosken) September 7, 2017 Sitting in Sandton watching the chaos.Getting ugly. #uber drivers fighting back.chased away all metre taxi drivers from...
Two big changes have arrived on the Uber South Africa app this week, and you might've already noticed them. First and foremost, there's a feature hidden to riders. Uber now allows drivers to share the details of their trip with loved ones. This is an extension of the feature that allows riders to share details with their loved ones. The new feature comes after feedback accrued at Uber's driver hubs, suggesting that the addition will also bolster the service's safety for drivers. Speaking of driver safety, an additional feature will impact both drivers and riders, especially those who pay using cash. "Social Connect",...
Uber has just solved another small but niggling problem with its service. The transportation company has announced a new chat system, that allows drivers and riders to communicate through the Uber app, sans phone number. Previously, drivers and riders would require a mobile number and an outside app to converse. This communication also wasn't standardised, as some drivers preferred messaging rather than phone calls. Number sharing also had security implications too. But with the new chat feature, Uber riders can message their drivers from within the Uber app itself. A "Contact" button now opens a Facebook Messenger-like screen which allows riders to...
Paying for an Uber is usually a seamless affair involving a credit card and electronic fairies transporting cash around the ether. But what if you forget your card at home, and only have cash? Uber South Africa has announced that it will debut a "cash indicator" feature for its drivers, which will allow them to choose to accept a trip paid using cash or decline it. "We've received a lot of feedback from driver-partners expressing their need to be able to choose the kind of trips they want to accept," Uber SA's GM Jonathan Ayache notes in a press release. "This feedback...
The South African government is considering an amendment to the National Land Transport Act that will accommodate e-hailing services like Uber, Taxify and Zebra, according to sanews.gov.za. Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi has said that he cannot reveal what the outcome of the amendment will be, but that Parliament considering it proves a "willingness to accommodate innovation". South African meter-taxi operators have been up in arms recently, claiming they are forced to abide by rules that drivers using the digital services do not. The anger has spurred on acts of violence that resulted in the death of an Uber driver earlier this month. The bone of contention lies with...
If you're an Uber or UberEATS user in North America, you can now tip your driver through the app. The new feature addition is part of Uber's 180 Days of Change campaign announced in late June, which outlined a number of key focus areas for the company. Adding driver tipping to the app was one. While tipping was initially available in three US cities, the company has now rolled out the feature to around 100 additional cities including a handful in Canada. Tipping is entirely optional, and can be done using the app after a delivery has been made or a trip has...
It's the week of milestones and today it's Uber's turn: the company has reached five billion trips. Uber hit one billion trips in late 2015 -- five years after launching -- and in less than two years it has quintupled its intake. On 20 May, 156 riders simultaneously pushed Uber over the milestone, and the company is rewarding each of the drivers with US$500. 5 billion rides, 6 continents, 76 countries—thank you to the riders and drivers who powered this journey. pic.twitter.com/9cFN7YESTX — Uber (@Uber) June 29, 2017 To put the number into perspective: if one trip was called every second, it would have take...
More than one thousand Uber employees have signed a petition calling for the reinstatement of former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, according to a report by Axios. Kalanick was forced to resign on Wednesday after pressure from shareholders, and has not yet been replaced. The founder had tackled many a controversy in the past year, but it was a personal family tragedy that eventually led to his resignation. According to an email obtained by Recode, employees understand that he is a flawed leader, but believe he should be reinstated anyway. "Nobody is perfect, but I fundamentally believe he can evolve into the leader Uber needs today and...
Just before news of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick's resignation surfaced, the company was trying to grab attention in a more positive light -- with promises to its drivers. The company sent out an email to its drivers yesterday announcing the launch of its 180 Days of Change. The email detailed the "meaningful changes and improvements" it was bringing to drivers' experiences with the app. The campaign appears to be a six month project that reveals a new improvement every month. The first month, Uber assured, was dedicated to earnings. The biggest improvement it focused on was tipping -- "the feature asked for most." Only...
Travis Kalanick has resigned as CEO of Uber due to pressure from investors, it has been reported. The Uber CEO resigned after five of the firm's key investors demanded he do so, the New York Times reported, citing "two people with knowledge of the situation". It's claimed that several investors sent a letter to Kalanick in Chicago, demanding that he step down. The Uber CEO had been on an indefinite leave of absence after the death of his mother in a boating accident last month. "I love Uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life...
Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has announced that he will take an indefinite leave of absence after the company's tumultuous past year. The announcement comes after a slew of issues regarding policy, leadership and prejudice plaguing the transport company in 2017. "For the last eight years my life has always been about Uber," Kalanick wrote in a letter to employees, announcing his move. "Recent events have brought home for me that people are more important than work, and that I need to take some time off of the day-to-day to grieve my mother, whom I buried on Friday, to reflect, to work on...
Update: Upon request for comment, Uber's representatives sent Memeburn the following statement. We are deeply committed to the safety of all who use the Uber app. Immediately upon hearing of any situation involving a rider or driver, Uber takes the necessary steps to investigate the allegation and is in contact with both the rider and driver to offer support. Uber has an incident response team who are trained to deal with any critical safety issues and works with the relevant stakeholders in order to resolve any incident with a matter of urgency. We are constantly developing new technologies to ensure safety before,...
Great news for you antisocial riders who never bother chatting to your Uber drivers. The transportation company has today announced a collaboration with Snapchat, which allows riders to "personalize their riding experience" using a number of custom filters. "Riders will be able to have a little extra fun by unlocking custom Snapchat filters so they can Snap while they ride," the press release continues. These custom filters include ETA filters, a number of custom Uber ride filters and a mystery filter for an "added surprise". 'Riders will be able to have a little extra fun by unlocking custom Snapchat filters so they can...
Uber is charging riders in 14 US cities more for taking popular routes, reports from Bloomberg and Business Insider have found. The majority of UberX's trips are priced on mileage, time and general demand in the area, but some guinea pigs in areas with its carpooling service UberPOOL have found they are being charged more for specific routes. Uber has confirmed this silent test, dubbed 'route-based pricing', claiming that it's separating time-sensitive users (those who use UberX) and price-sensitive users (UberPOOL riders). Whereas the former willingly choose to pay higher rates for private rides directly to their destination, the latter are more concerned with cheaper...
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