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Wisk Aero, a startup founded in 2019 and backed by Boeing, has debuted its sixth generation remote-piloted “air taxi,” a yellow all-electric four-seat aircraft that can fly without a human pilot. The company touts its plug-in planes as the answer to city traffic congestion. The Boeing-backed company is hoping to get approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry passengers as part of a commercial air taxi service, according to a report by the Verge.

Sometimes you speed read a BBC article that you see on Twitter and don’t think much of it but then something in it stands out. This was exactly the case when I read about the Uber Files and how a $90m-a-year lobbying and public relations effort recruited friendly politicians to help in its campaign to disrupt Europe's taxi industry. “Uber Files: Massive leak reveals how top politicians secretly helped Uber” https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62057321 You are about to read what the MSM won’t tell you. It’s just a case of joining up the dots and being a critical thinker rather than a conspiracy...

(Translation) The number of taxicab drivers on the island is decreasing, which is felt by the tourist who needs a transportation service and passengers who arrive in Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport early in the morning. It is estimated that, in the last years, there has been a 40% decrease in the number of these workers, according to Juan de León, President of the Taxi Drivers Federation, who understands is due to factors that affect the economy in general. According to data collected among cab drivers, it is estimated that there were over 5,000 taxis in Puerto Rico one decade...

(Singapore)With reported Covid-19 cases rising recently, further tightening of safe management measures known as Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) kicked in on Sunday (May 16). It didn't take long for the first gut-wrenching photograph to reflect some of these restrictions – where dining-in is prohibited. That has, quite literally, left some taxi and private-hire drivers in an uncomfortable spot. On May 17, a photograph was shared on Facebook, highlighting a cabby sitting in the boot of a ComfortDelGro cab with the rear door wide open as he ate his packed lunch with a pair of disposable chopsticks. The caption read: “Please...

The Marina City Council voted to approve the conditional use permit that allows Joby Aviation to test their prototype air taxis at the airport. The company wants to build a 580-thousand square foot manufacturing facility at the airport that will provide as many as 1,600 jobs to the regionThe Marina City Council voted to approve the conditional use permit that allows Joby Aviation to test their prototype air taxis at the airport. The company wants to build a 580-thousand square foot manufacturing facility at the airport that will provide as many as 1,600 jobs to the region

New York City’s taxi drivers are getting schooled on personal pronouns. City taxi regulators are requesting that licensed hacks ask passengers whether they identify as he, she, they — or ze, according to an “inclusive language tips” email blasted out to drivers Wednesday morning. “Using someone’s preferred pronoun is a simple way to show respect,” read the email, which was signed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s Office of Inclusion.

Test flights of a driverless hover-taxi will take place in Singapore next year, a German aviation firm said, the latest innovation to offer an escape from Asia's monster traffic jams. Millions of commuters in the region's cities have to contend with chronic gridlock every day, sparking a race to develop new ways to avoid the snarl-ups. While the developed city-state of Singapore does not suffer major congestion, it is seen as a perfect test-bed for new technologies due to its compact size and openness to innovation. German firm Volocopter said Tuesday it will conduct the test flights in Singapore in...

The FBI is investigating a $150,000 payment that the publisher of the National Enquirer made to a second woman who claims she had an affair with the president, according to a report Tuesday. The agency executed a search warrant Monday targeting President Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, that included a request for documents related to Cohen’s payment of $130,000 to stripper Stormy Daniels. The porn star has said she had an affair with Trump. But the feds also want to know about a payment made by American Media Inc., which owns the Enquirer, to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, sources...

Jeff Jones, the president of Uber, is quitting the car-hailing company after less than a year. The move by the No. 2 exec, said sources, is directly related to the multiple controversies there, including explosive charges of sexism and sexual harassment. (UPDATE: Uber confirmed the departure and will be sending a statement. (UPDATE: Jones also confirmed the departure with a blistering assessment of the company. “It is now clear, however, that the beliefs and approach to leadership that have guided my career are inconsistent with what I saw and experienced at Uber, and I can no longer continue as president...

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A package of bills that would establish statewide, uniform regulations and an open market for transportation companies has been introduced in the Michigan Legislature. Importantly, it would also restrict local governments’ ability to manipulate this market. More than a year ago, the Michigan House passed a bill package related to ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft. These companies are operating in some areas in Michigan, but they have been restricted by municipal regulators. The bills would explicitly make it legal for them to operate anywhere in the state, meaning that no matter where you live, you could start earning extra...

Hail a yellow taxi in New York City, and there is a good chance the driver is from another country. Passengers are regularly exposed to a range of languages that span the globe, from Spanish to Bengali to Urdu. It can be charming, but also maddening for riders who feel that drivers do not understand where they want to go. Don’t you have to speak English, some wonder, to drive a taxi here? As of Friday, the answer is no. That is when new rules went into effect eliminating the requirement that taxi drivers take an English proficiency exam. Now,...

A growing number of drivers working for Uber, Lyft and similar taxi services have been accused of sexually assaulting female passengers. And many of them have Muslim names. Two Uber drivers – Hassan Ibrahim, 48, and Salim Salem, 47 – were charged last week in connection with sexual assaults against female college students at Michigan State University, the Detroit Free Press reported. The two men are accused of using their Uber driver jobs to prey upon college students. Ibrahim faces one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with a Feb. 14 incident, according to East Lansing police. He...

Editor's Note: This article was co-authored by Danni Ondraskova and Justin Haskins. Many people are already familiar with Uber, the highly lauded and criticized San Francisco-based company that offers its customers a car-share service through an eponymous app. Uber touts its service as a legitimate alternative to city taxis and other transportation services. Its website promises consumers the chance to "share experiences, woo the moment, and create an escape." Uber's opponents—usually controlled-obsessed regulatory zealots or competing taxi companies—question the safety of Uber's business model and point to alleged fluctuations in its service quality as signals of the service's inherent unreliability,...

One of my favorite political stories comes from my friend Michelle Steel, an Orange County Supervisor and formerly a member of the State Board of Equalization in California (BOE). When on the BOE, which oversees much of the tax structure in California including sales tax, she served with Judy Chu who is now a Congresswoman (D-CA). In the eight years that Steel served on the BOE, she could only remember Chu voting in favor of the taxpayer once. But every time she went out somewhere with Chu, she would tell a story about her support for the taxpayers and tell...

VETS DRIVE YELLOW IS A COALITION OF NYC TAXI GARAGE OWNERS WHO ARE LOOKING TO HIRE VETS TO DRIVE YELLOW CABS IN NEW YORK CITY. AS MANY VETERANS RETURN HOME AND DISCHARGE FROM THE MILITARY, OR ARE LOOKING TO MAKE SOME EXTRA MONEY WHILE ACTIVE OR ON RESERVES, GARAGE OWNERS ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING NEW DRIVERS. MANY PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN. WE ARE HERE TO HELP! VETS DRIVE YELLOW NYC WILL PROVIDE VETERANS ACCESS TO AFFILIATED GARAGES IN THE FIVE BOROUGHS. THESE GARAGES WILL NOT ONLY GUIDE YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS OF OBTAINING A HACK LICENSE, BUT THEY WILL...

Much has been made of the $1 million New York City taxi medallion—the ticket to operating a yellow cab. When a pair of them sold for more than $2.5 million in November 2013, the New York Times declared that the medallion, once "the emblem of a dream achieved for those who work hard enough to afford it," had become "a striking example of how exclusive some corners of New York have become." The dreams of cabdrivers became the fortunes of wealthy "corporate medallion" owners. Despite the still-recent entry of on-demand ride services like Uber and Lyft into the New York...

"Are you an American who's tired of recent-immigrant cab drivers who can't find their way from Grand Central Station to the Empire State Building? Welcome to Ameri-Rides, the new taxi service for Americans only that guarantees you a native-born American driver!" -- apocryphal ad. How do you think that concept would go over on Morning Joe or anywhere else in the MSM? But when Morning Joe today discussed SheRides, a new taxi service that hires only women drivers and accepts only women passengers, all the panel members—Mika, Joe and Willie—dug the idea. The notion is that some women riders feel...

Police officials in the beautiful and historic South Carolina city of Charleston have identified a major new public safety menace requiring their immediate attention. This latest threat -- being met by the authorities with an aggressive public awareness campaign and “sting” operations coupled with hefty fines in excess of $1,000 -- is not drugs, gangs, or illegal immigration. The threat posed the good citizens of Charleston is: Uber! Uber is a fast-growing, popular digital app for smart phones that provides consumers in Charleston and many cities across the country and around the world with an alternative to traditional taxi services....

While plenty of ink has been spilled over the controversies in the states surrounding rideshare companies Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, less attention has been given to the new opportunities that these newly-ubiquitous companies have helped to create. To be sure, rideshare apps are popular with consumers because they offer an innovative twist on an outdated taxi system. But while wildly popular with consumers, these apps also create thousands of jobs and increase revenue for the national and local economies in which they operate. Over the past few years the rideshare boom, pioneered by Lyft and Uber, has taken the country...