SOUTH AFRICA

UBER wants to add more than 15,000 new job opportunities for partner-drivers in SA over the next two years as well as lift-sharing and other new services, as it builds on the exponential growth it has seen since it launched in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban less than three years ago.

The smartphone app-based service, which has had a big effect on lifestyles and changed attitudes to taking a taxi in suburban SA, has 4,000 partner-drivers in SA. More than half-a-million South Africans have taken an Uber ride, and in the first half of 2015, it recorded 2-million trips, up from the 2014 total of a million, said Uber’s GM for sub-Saharan Africa, Alon Lits. He was speaking last week on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. Kenya’s capital Nairobi is Uber’s fastest growing city globally. The service operates in Mombasa, as well as Nigeria’s Abuja and Lagos, with plans to launch in Uganda, Tanzania and Ghana in a month.

Lits says Uber is looking to launch in another six African countries this year and is working to devise innovative solutions to challenges on the continent, such as inadequate mapping and low access to credit cards.

Nairobi is the first city to pilot the option of cash payments for Uber rides that, globally, have until now been exclusively credit or debit card-based. Uber is looking at extending the cash option to SA.

While the fact that Uber drivers have not been registered taxi drivers has been one of the factors eliciting protest from the established taxi industry, that is about to change in Gauteng, where local MEC for roads and transport Ismail Vadi was today to launch officially the process of regulating Uber partner-drivers as Public Transport Operators.

In addition, an amendment to the National Land Transport Act is going through Parliament. It will allow for licensing.

Lits said Uber partner-drivers had been applying for meter taxi licences anyway, but the legislation had lagged developments in the industry and Uber had been engaging with policy makers for more than two years to find an appropriate way to licence the drivers.

An increasing number of existing metered taxi drivers are starting to log on to the Uber app when they have downtime, to see if they and their cars comply with its requirements, and Uber has a big push to add existing taxi drivers to its operation.

A partnership with car-hire companies Avis, Hertz and Pace Car Rental, which provide attractive rates to partner-drivers for long-term car rentals, has helped to facilitate this because it enables existing (and new) drivers to comply with Uber’s operator requirement that the cars be 2012 models, or newer.

Over time, those partners renting cars can qualify for full maintenance leases, once they can demonstrate solid revenues and high driver ratings.

Lits acknowledged that one of the mistakes Uber had made was not engaging with the established taxi industry in SA before its launch, but it is remedying that.

http://goo.gl/2u6B9t
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APPLE CHINA

 Apple is to take a bite out of Chinese taxi firm Didi Chuxing, having invested $1bn in the car-hailing app.

With a bigger market share than Uber, the taxi service provides over 11 million rides each day, and is believed to be the biggest in the country with an 87 per cent monopoly on the space.

Uber has struggled to crack China, even in light of winning investment from Chinese search behemoth Baidu.


Apple chief executive Tim Cook told Reuters that the investment was made in the hope of helping the firm better understand Chinese consumers.

"We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market," he said. "Of course, we believe it will deliver a strong return for our invested capital over time as well."

The announcement comes less than a month after Apple's latest earnings report revealed that the tech giant's 13-year growth streak had come to an end.

While it's not yet known how the two companies will work together, rumours have been swirling around for months that Apple has ambitions to build a driveless car.

http://goo.gl/E6JqnM
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 CANADA

 Taxi drivers are urging the Quebec government to quickly adopt a bill that would effectively push Uber out of the province.

But they're asking for one little change to Bill 100: drop a clause that would adjust fares to demand, much like Uber does with its surge pricing.

The Regroupement des travailleurs autonomes Métallos, which represents 4,000 taxi and truck drivers, met on Sunday to make a final statement on their long-running dispute with the ride-railing app.

The group says that modulating fares in peak periods goes against consumer interests.

Last week the provincial government tabled a bill that would force Uber drivers to get a taxi permit. Anyone offering taxi transportation services without one would face fines of $2,500 to $25,000. Uber itself could be fined up to $50,000.

The San Francisco-based firm said that if Quebec legislation is too onerous, it would cease operations here.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/taxi-uber-bill-100-1.3583449
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