Transportation network companies like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar are growing quickly. A recent article examines the potential of such networks to build new efficiencies into urban transportation, as well as some of the risks to that potential.
Writing from Los Angeles, Juan Matute takes an optimistic approach to the growth of transportation network companies like Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar.
“I still believe the primary benefit of these new companies is that they can be a scalable platform for rideshare. The greatest promise of each of these services is to bring large numbers of drivers and passengers together on a single platform, which then makes passenger matching and shared rides that are ancillary to a driver’s intended trip more likely,” writes Matute.
Matute also mentions some of the unresolved questions around liability as well as the systems' ongoing need to better anticipate and respond to shifts in the supply and demand. “Anecdotal evidence suggests the supply of Uber and Lyft drivers has outpaced demand in Los Angeles in recent weeks,” says Matute.
Read the full story: The Growth and Growing Pains of Transportation Network Companies
Massachusetts Approves Initial Regulations for Transportation Network Companies
Transportation network companies like Uber and Lyft took a major step toward legal recognition in Massachusetts.
Uber and Lyft Are Dragging Traditional Taxi Companies Into the 21st Century
Rideshares like Uber and Lyft have been under attack for their brash approach to local regulations and laissez-faire pricing schemes, but they've also pushed traditional taxis to dramatically improve their service in a very short span of time.
Economists Give Uber and Lyft a Resounding Thumbs Up
A recent survey of the Initiative on Global Markets Economic Experts Panel found clear and broad support for the economic benefits of transportation network companies.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Nation's most wind-powered state turns to coal as data centers increase energy demand
For the first time in decades, Iowa has increased its generation of coal power.
Alabama scores up to $2.5 billion federal loan for largest infrastructure project in state’s history
The Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project aims to ease congestion at Alabama’s worst bottleneck.
Trump is considering data centers on 6 states' public land — some state officials say they had no idea
If the administration approves the proposed projects, data center and data center-related developments will cover 17,600 acres of public land.
Despite court ruling, Trump is keeping nearly all wind projects in the US on hold
At least 110 wind energy projects have not heard from the government since a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's freeze on wind turbine clearances was likely illegal.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
KFH Group Inc.
Greater Baltimore Committee
Eagle County Government
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello