The driver, Janis Rogers, made just $9 an hour on the seven hour and 42 minute journey after paying for petrol and tolls.
When she picked up a young female passenger at midday on June 9 outside a Ben and Jerry's in Williamsburg, Virginia, little did she know the journey would be considerably longer than the average 5.4-mile Uber ride.
Rogers said she took on the record-breaking job as "it was an adventure."
The young woman asked how far north Rogers could take her. “I said, ‘Well, I’m not doing too much today, so I’ll take you all the way,’" 64-year-old Rogers told the New York Post.
She then made the almost eight-hour journey without taking a single break, not even making a rest stop.
"I was wide awake and kept on going. I don't have a problem with going for a long time," said Rogers.
Meanwhile, her passenger spent the entire journey asleep in the back.
The young woman was making the 397-mile trip to see her boyfriend - but according to Rogers, she didn't seem that excited to see him.
"She was kind of blasé. She looked tired," said Rogers.
Despite the length of the journey, which passed through three states, the woman didn't tip Rogers when they arrived at the Putnam Avenue address that evening.
Once she'd made the drop off, Rogers immediately turned around and headed back to Virginia where she lives, arriving home at 3.45am.
Despite the total fare coming to $294.04, Rogers said that the 15 and a half hour round trip wasn't "lucrative" by the time she'd paid for petrol and road tolls. She calculated she made about $9 an hour on the job.
A New York City yellow cab making the same trip in reverse would have cost $1,182.
http://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/742525/Uber-taxi-news-update-fare-cost
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An Uber driver has been charged after a 19-year-old passenger was sexually assaulted over the weekend, said Toronto police.
The assault happened at around 12:50 a.m. Saturday morning after the woman ordered a ride, police said.
Orjon Leska, 38, of Toronto, is charged with one count of sexual assault.
Leska is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 16.
Uber said it has banned the suspect from accessing its app, and is assisting police in their investigation.
http://on.thestar.com/2hyqcmP
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A controversial disciplinary scheme for Leicester taxi drivers is to be reviewed 12 months after angry cabbies brought the city centre to a stand still with a string of rush hour go slow protests.
The city council brought in the pilot points regime which works in a similar way to driving licence penalties.
Various infractions carry a points score and any cabby accumulating 12 points faces being brought before a committee of councillors for punishments ranging from an official warning to having their badge revoked.
Some 300 hackney cab drivers affiliated to the RMT union argued the scheme would lead to them possibly losing their licences for minor offences and launched a series of attacks on city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby who hit back with equally severe criticism.
Now, as promised, the scheme is being reviewed after 12 months to see if it should become permanent.
A public consultation is being launched to give people the chance to say whether they think the scheme has worked to improve taxi standards, as well as giving details of any complaints or concerns they have raised.
The six-week consultation, known as Driving Up Standards, runs until January 31.
During the pilot scheme has been running, there have been 99 instances of penalty points being issued, with 382 points issued in total.
No drivers have lost their licences for totting up 12 points.
A total of 208 points were issued for a total of 52 instances concerning parking offences.
A further 120 points were issued in 31 instances related to drivers not attending regular six-monthly tests.
Twenty seven points were issued in nine cases where drivers did not display proper plates or signs, and 24 points were issued for six cases concerning driving unroadworthy taxis. One case involved a driver not wearing an identification badge, for which three points were issued.
The highest number of points issued to any one driver was seven, for two offences – a parking contravention and failing to display proper signs or plates.
The Mercury has so far been able to contact Leicestershire RMT secretary Umar Khan for comment.
Sir Peter told the Mercury: "We said we would review this after a year and we are.
"We have given out a some points and generally the feedback has been positive and that it has led to a better service from taxi drivers.
"There were a lot of scare stories put around and at the time I said the protesters were being totally unreasonable.
"All they ever needed to do was stick to the rules.
To take part in the consultation online visit: consultations.leicester.gov.uk
Paper copies of the consultation are also due to be made available shortly from libraries and the Granby Street Customer Service Centre.
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A woman has been assaulted in a taxi in Salisbury.
The incident took place in the Rowbarrow area in the early hours on Saturday 26th November.
A 39-year-old man, arrested in connection with the assault, has been released on bail until January 4th 2017.
Police still want to speak with anyone who may have seen what happened between 3.10 - 3.30 a.m.
Investigating officers would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the offence or who may have information.
Please call PC Jeannette Brownsea at Wiltshire Police on 101 or anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.
http://bit.ly/2hyu3Qq
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ASIA
This is only happening in Asia at the moment (well, it’ll only be in Asia when it eventually gets underway proper, but for now let’s focus on the fact that it’s in Asia at the mo), but the global reach of the team-up between Honda and a motorcycle-based Uber type of personal bike taxi service could be big news.
It was announced today (Monday) that Honda has invested in Southeast Asian motorcycle-hailing service Grab. It’s not clear how much money has been invested by Honda but it is known that Grab has come in for some $750 million worth of investment from various businesses.
Grab is a large, direct rival to Uber in Southeast Asia and the company said that Honda had decided to invest in the company which would see the two outfits expand the ride-sharing technology and road user education programmes.
Grab currently provides ride-shares in both car taxis and motorbike services. President at Grab, Ming Maa, said that the Honda share IS part of the $750 million lump of cash invested by various businesses that was announced in September, but up until now the identity of those investors has been kept quiet.
Maa told news agency Reuters: “We are in the planning stages of what a full partnership will look like and there are many prongs of that. One prong would include selling Honda motorbikes within the region.”
http://bit.ly/2gG6pQy
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A taxi driver allegedly ran his hand up the skirt of a young female passenger as he took her and two friends to a club in Exeter.
Wahib Tameem was tracked down by police after one of the three customers used her mobile phone to snap a picture of his cab as he drove off down Fore Street.
He had agreed a cut price fare to take the group to a village in East Devon and then back to Exeter and the alleged assault happened as they approached the city centre.
Tameem, aged 59, of Mount Pleasant Road, Exeter, denies two offences of sexually assaulting the same woman passenger during the journey on June 18, 2016.
Iraqi-born Tameem was not in the dock at Exeter Crown Court for the start of his trial but Judge Graham Cottle told the jury they should not speculate about his absence or hold it against him.
Mr Brian Fitzherbert, prosecuting, said the young woman passenger contacted the police shortly after being dropped off at the EX4 club at the top of Fore Street.
The three friends were in Exeter and needed to go back to a village near Honiton before returning to the city and agreed a fare of £50 for the round trip.
She alleged he had tried to put his hand up her skirt on two occasions and had tried to force his fingers into her underwear on the first.
He was arrested after police traced his cab from the mobile phone photograph and denied any inappropriate behaviour.
He said the only contact with the passenger came when she tried to change the channel on the radio and he moved his hand across to stop her.
The front seat passenger told the jury:"The first time he touched me it was not for too long, just a couple of seconds. The second time he moved his hand up my skirt and I pushed it away again.
"His hand got to my underwear and he was trying to get his hand underneath it. I pushed it away. It was about five minutes before the end of the journey and he dropped us near the EX4 club.
"We all got out and there was a conversation between the three of us which led to one of the others taking a picture of his registration and us calling the police. I was just shocked by what happened."
http://www.exeterexpressandecho.co.uk/taxi-driver-denies-groping-woman-on-exeter-night-club-trip/story-29977094-detail/story.html#mUKkTA5HdXfV0IBz.99
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