CHRISTOPHER CADELAGO | Politico

Uber, the ride-hailing and delivery giant that launched in San Francisco, is prepping a massive cash infusion to shake up politics in California, according to plans revealed first to POLITICO.

The company is dropping $30 million into its existing state committee — called the Uber Innovation PAC — all of which it plans to spend on candidates and causes in 2024, people familiar with its plans said. That will make it one of, if not the largest, single-funded state PACs this election cycle, injecting a decidedly pro-business bent into the mix.

In addition to its sheer size, Uber’s incoming money bomb is notable given moves by other major corporations to pull out of California, citing complaints over its voluminous regulations and a broader climate that can be unfriendly to large businesses.

Uber’s rollout includes a $250,000 check to support Proposition 1 on the March ballot, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to revamp and fund the state’s mental health system. Prop 1 is Newsom’s biggest priority in the primary and so far faces minimal opposition and spending against it.

The PAC’s new money is the latest sign that booming tech companies with ties to Silicon Valley are growing significantly in their political clout and sophistication — following years of being naive and even adverse to the ways of Sacramento.

That dynamic is expected to increase, lobbyists and industry representatives tell POLITICO, with the rise of artificial intelligence and lawmakers’ plans to introduce bills to regulate AI and other fledgling industries. The PAC money also comes as the company works to flex its muscle in statehouses across the U.S., plunging millions into gig-economy ballot measures to reshape the ride-sharing industry by enshrining drivers as independent contractors.

A court last year mostly upheld California’s Proposition 22, which passed with room to spare in November 2020. Unions spent big against the measure and have fought it in the courts. There’s a lot at stake for the company in California beyond its battles with unions over employee classifications. Uber has a growing share of electric vehicles and has set aggressive zero-emission targets in the U.S., Canada and European cities. And it’s coping with spiraling insurance industry woes.

Uber itself started lobbying in California’s Capitol about a decade ago and has a record of donating to candidates and campaigns. Uber’s PAC, for example, supported Newsom as he beat back a recall attempt in 2021.

The Prop 22 fight grew out of the company’s unsuccessful battle against Assembly Bill 5 — carried by Lorena Gonzalez, a former state lawmaker now leading the Labor Federation, and signed by Newsom in 2019 — that would have upended Uber’s business model by compelling the company to reclassify its drivers as employees. Uber did not reveal any more early recipients of its new cash, beyond saying it would contribute to California statehouse campaigns and issues.

In a statement from the PAC’s organizer, the company said it plans to “amplify thoughtful candidates and campaigns that are willing to take on the tough challenges that our state’s collective future faces.” The effort is being led by Ramona Prieto, Uber’s head of public policy and communications for the western region.

In the statement, Prieto added, “that includes electrification, supporting small business, repairing the state’s broken insurance markets rife with litigation abuse, ensuring a competitive business climate and protecting access to flexible work amidst record inflation and economic uncertainty.”

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JOE BIDEN HAS been president for only four months, but he’s already been hailed as the country’s most pro-labor leader since Franklin Delano Roosevelt showed up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He wants to make it easier for workers to unionize and would raise the national minimum wage to $15. He opposed Proposition 22, the California ballot measure that allowed gig platforms like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash to continue treating their workers as independent contractors. In March, he backed the (doomed) union drive in a Bessemer, Alabama, Amazon warehouse. “Unions put power in the hands of workers,” he said then. “They level the playing field.”

Tuesday, though, Biden frustrated some worker advocates when he announced a deal with the ride-hail companies Uber and Lyft to get more Americans to vaccination sites—despite his unease with their business model. The program, to start on May 24, will point users on the apps to nearby vaccination sites and will cover $15 rides in either direction. Lyft says that, based on previous rides to vaccination sites, it expects the amount to cover “most, if not all” of fares to and from the sites.

Biden, it turns out, has other priorities, and a self-imposed deadline: He wants Americans to feel safe attending normal(ish) Fourth of July barbecues. The White House has set a goal of getting 70 percent of US adults at least one Covid-19 shot by the summer holiday. At this point 59 percent of Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The vaccine is the key to getting us all moving again, and we’re proud to do our part to move the country forward,” John Zimmer, the cofounder and president of Lyft, said in a statement. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi called the partnership a “proud moment for me, for Uber, and for our country.”

But labor activists said Tuesday the deal put the White House at odds with some of its leaders’ stated principles. “If this is something that this administration has OK’d, it does not bode well for what we will see in terms of enforcement actions,” says Veena Dubal, a professor of labor law at the UC Hastings College of the Law.

So far, the Democratic administration has signaled support, tepidly, for changing the rules on worker classification. Today, all states allow companies like Uber and Lyft to treat their drivers and delivery people as independent contractors, who can sign in to work on the app any time but are not entitled to traditional benefits like health care insurance and workers’ compensation. Last week, labor secretary Marty Walsh told Reuters, “In a lot of cases, gig workers should be classified as employees.” He nominated David Weil, a former Obama appointee and Uber critic, to head the department’s Wage and Hour Division. The Labor Department last week also repealed a Trump administration rule that labor advocates had feared would be used to maintain gig workers’ independent contractor status. The department did not respond to a request for comment.

The CDC has pinpointed lack of transportation as a factor in preventing people, and especially vulnerable populations, from getting the vaccine. After listening sessions with local groups and agencies held earlier this year, the agency recommended governments work with community and faith-based organizations, Medicaid and Medicare programs, transportation companies, and ride-hail services to get more shots into arms. A number of cities, states, and transit agencies already offer free transportation programs to vaccination sites.

The ride-hail partnership likely won’t help everyone. Some local agencies say their biggest challenge is transporting older or homebound adults. In 2018, just 24 percent of Americans aged 50 and older said they had used a ride-hail service. Public health officials have also begun to stress the importance of reaching people in rural areas, where vaccine rates lag and where ride-hail service can be especially hard to come by.

But the deal gives the ride-hail companies another way to show they’re an irreplaceable part of the national infrastructure, in a moment where regulation could put their business models at risk.

For years, Uber and Lyft have tried to become one-stop shops for all Americans’ transportation—and for Uber, delivery—needs. Khosrowshahi has pinned Uber’s hopes on becoming the “Amazon for transportation.” To that end, both companies have extended hands—and wheels—to governments. Both have formed partnerships with local transit agencies, with Uber actually taking over the operation of some smaller systems and selling software to others in the US and Canada. Lyft’s bike-share arm operates the largest systems in the country, with contracts ensuring its continued (and in some cases, exclusive) relationship with cities. In November, the General Service Administration announced the companies had jointly won a five-year contract worth up to $810 million that allows federal employees to use Uber and Lyft when traveling. The feds said they had negotiated 2 to 4 percent discounts, beyond what the companies offered other large commercial customers.

Lyft has made other inroads in health care, with a division dedicated to programs that allow medical providers and insurance companies to pay for patients’ rides. The company is working with at least 35 state Medicaid programs or Medicaid-managed care organizations to give rides to those on the plans. On a call with investors last week, Zimmer, the Lyft president, said the company would continue to invest in its health care programs. The goal is simple: Whoever you are, whatever you need—including now a shot—reach for our apps.

AARIAN MARSHALL | Contributed

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Uber saw record demand in the first quarter as its food delivery business grew while lockdowns ended and more customers hailed rides

The San Francisco-based company said Wednesday that its bookings jumped 24% to $19.5 billion __ an all-time high __ in the January-March period. That was far ahead of the $18 billion Wall Street was anticipating, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Uber said its delivery bookings rose 166% from the same period last year. Mobility __ or ride-hailing __ bookings were down 38%, but that was narrower than the year-over-year losses the company saw most of last year.

“Uber is starting to fire on all cylinders, as more consumers are riding with us again while continuing to use our expanding delivery offerings,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement. Uber announced in February that it was buying the alcohol delivery service Drizly.

Uber’s revenue fell 11% to $2.9 billion, partly due to a $600 million charge for back payment of workers in the United Kingdom. Without that charge, Uber reported $3.5 billion in revenue, topping Wall Street’s estimate of $3.27 billion.

The company reported a net loss of $108 million for the period, or 6 cents per share. Analysts had forecast a 56-cent loss.

Uber’s shares rose about 1% in after-hours trading.

Uber has said that demand is increasing faster than its supply of drivers. Last month, the company said it planned to spend $250 million on sign-up bonuses and other incentives to lure drivers.

Its rival Lyft also showed signs of post-pandemic recovery in its first-quarter earnings report Tuesday, saying demand outstripped its expectations.

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This has been the largest such test of fully autonomous vehicles by any major automaker before 2020 when several companies have said they plan to begin building and deploying such vehicles in higher volumes. Google’s Waymo unit, in comparison, has been testing about 60 self-driving prototypes in four states.

Most of the specially equipped versions of the Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle used by San Francisco-based Lyft, which was testing them in its ride-sharing fleet in several states, one of the sources said. GM has no immediate plans to sell the Bolt AV to individual customers, according to automotive news.

GM executives have said in interviews and investor presentations during the past years; they intend to mass-produce autonomous vehicles and deploy them in ride services fleets. However, GM officials have not revealed details of the scale of production or the timing of the deployment of those vehicles.

GM has previously stated they do not provide specific details on potential future products or technology rollout plans. They have said that their AV technology will appear in an on-demand ride-sharing network application sooner than you might think.”

In my email, to Lyft they declined to comment.
GM’s crosstown rival Ford Motor Co. has said it plans to begin building its first self-driving vehicles at a suburban Detroit plant in late 2020, for deployment in on-demand ride-sharing fleets in 2021. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is providing a small number of Chrysler Pacifica minivans to Waymo, which is converting them for self-driving tests.

GM’s Maven car-sharing operation likely will be involved with Lyft in developing a commercial ride-sharing business around self-driving vehicles such as the Bolt AV, GM executive Mike Ableson stated in a November interview.

I’m assuming the cost of these autonomous vehicles the very early ones, will be six figures; there aren’t very many retail customers that are willing to go out and spend that kind of money. However, it is said that CEO Mary Barra already started building a fully autonomous version of the Bolt EV at its Orion Township plant north of Detroit. Detroit.
GM has tested about 40 Bolt AVs in San Francisco and Scottsdale, Ariz., and plans to extend testing.

GM paid $500 million for a minority stake in Lyft, the second-largest U.S. ride-sharing firm after Uber. It is also said that GM discussed with Lyft founders Logan Green and John Zimmer the prospect of jointly developing a ride-sharing business with self-driving cars.

To make this successful, it is going requires the ability to engineer autonomous systems, to build self-driving vehicles in volume and to deploy them in a ride-sharing fleet. GM in early 2016 acquired Cruise Automation, a San Francisco startup, to help it accelerate the development of self-driving cars. GM also launched a car-sharing business, Maven, which has provided vehicles to Lyft.

I know that Cruise, Lyft, Maven, GM, Ford Chrysler, and a lot of smart people all need to come together to make this happen in the world of self-driving cars.
As for me, I like human Uber drivers.

Good Driving
The Hemet Car Guy

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