Image: Illinois Senate Democrats

An emerging state trend is giving some drivers for rideshare companies collective bargaining rights. Generally, rideshare drivers are classified as independent contractors not entitled to overtime pay and other protections granted under federal law. But in California, Illinois, and Massachusetts, laws provide rideshare drivers a path to form a union and bargain for protections.

Recently, California and Illinois took significant steps toward extending collective bargaining rights to rideshare drivers, building on a model first implemented in Massachusetts.

Following a November 2024 voter-approved ballot measure and resulting statute (M.G.L. c. 150F, § 5), Massachusetts became the first state to certify a rideshare union in May 2026. The App Drivers Union became the exclusive representative of an industrywide unit of transportation network drivers after it demonstrated support from at least 25% of active drivers and no qualifying challenge was filed.

Source: National Law Review

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Image: Lloyd Mitchell

A city lawmaker this week sent Apple Inc. a letter requesting it remove a controversial ride-hailing app from its online store in New York City due to allegations the service operates in the five boroughs without a city Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) license, amNewYork has learned.

In the missive, which was obtained by amNewYork, City Council Transportation Committee Chair Shaun Abreu (D-Manhattan) argues that the tech giant is enabling the app — known as Empower — to continue operating in the city outside the law through its availability on the App Store. 

“We write to urge Apple to remove the ride-hailing application Empower…from the App Store for New York City,” the letter reads. “Empower is currently operating in our city in open and admitted violation of New York law, and its continued availability on the App Store enables that unlawful conduct to continue at the direct expense of passenger safety, driver protections, and public revenue.”

An Apple spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by publication time. Although Abreu said the company responded to him that it is looking into the matter.

Empower, a product of the company Yazam Inc., is known for charging lower fares than the two major ride-hail app companies in the city: Uber and Lyft. It claims on its website that its prices are 20% lower than average fares for both apps.

Source: am New York

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Louisiana: St. George Mayor Negotiating Uber Rideshare Contract for Transportation Discounts

The city of St. George is making progress in implementing its discounted Uber ride proposal after the City Council approved a measure that allows the mayor to begin negotiating the rideshare program agreement. At Tuesday’s meeting, the City Council approved a resolution for Mayor Dustin Yates to finalize an agreement with Uber for its “St. George On the Go Rideshare Pilot Program.” The council would have to approve any funding for the program.

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Massachusetts: Foxboro Puts Measures in Place to Protect Neighborhoods from Stadium Traffic

The town has implemented restrictions for residents and nonresidents attending events at Gillette Stadium in response to complaints about increased activity in neighborhoods as the number of stadium events has grown in recent years. Town officials said they have received numerous complaints about unauthorized drop-offs and pickups, including rideshare activity on secondary roads surrounding the stadium.

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Colorado: Lake Dillon Is Too Low to Keep Its Water Taxi in Business, so Capt. Frank Has Other Ideas

For the past nine years, Captain Frank Keesling has done the majority of his business by shuttling concert-goers back and forth across Dillon Reservoir, between Frisco and the Dillon Amphitheater, in his water taxi. But Colorado’s low snowpack and minimal rain have drained the reservoir’s water level to an estimated 72% of normal, according to Denver Water, which owns it, with about a 2-inch decrease every day.

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Worker Dies after Accident with Plane at Montreal Airport

A ramp worker at Montréal-Trudeau International Airport died after an accident involving a plane on Monday evening, officials said. Aéroports de Montréal, the authority that operates the airport, said in a statement on Tuesday that the worker was employed by Samsic, a company that provides airport and passenger support services.

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Kanata Residents Vent Transit Concerns with OC Transpo GM

Transit riders had one last chance to speak face-to-face with OC Transpo's boss Rick Leary during a public information session in Kanata on Tuesday. As Dan Taekema reports, residents haven't held back.

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Rideshare Competition Expands As Uber Arrives in Greater Sudbury

Effective Aug. 24, Greater Sudburians can fire up an Uber app and request a ride. The service is also now available through a wide swath of northeastern Ontario. The company joins other rideshare companies already operating in Greater Sudbury, including URide, Y Drive and SettleInn DriveU, which was locally developed and tailored for newcomers.

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London Police Are Now Using the Same Illegal E-Bikes As the Criminals They Chase

The Metropolitan Police has expanded its fleet of high-powered electric two-wheelers used to chase suspects across London, adding 20 new electric motorbikes and bringing the fleet to 25. The machines can reach speeds of around 50 mph (80 km/h), hop curbs, tackle stairs, and follow suspects into places where a traditional police motorcycle, electric bicycle, or squad car simply can’t go.

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Ireland: NTA Data Shows Growing Taxi Sector with Record Accessibility and Electric Vehicle Numbers

The National Transport Authority (NTA) has published a comprehensive snapshot of Ireland’s taxi sector, drawing on its latest Small Public Service Vehicle (SPSV) Bulletin and recent taxi driver and consumer research, which was conducted in March 2026.Together, the publications provide a snapshot of Ireland’s taxi, hackney and limousine sector with increasing numbers of licensed drivers, wheelchair accessible vehicles and electric vehicles operating nationwide.

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Heatwaves Show UK Must Do More to Promote Cycling and Walking, Campaigners Say

This summer’s heatwaves and wildfires were “immediate, real-world manifestations of the climate emergency”, the groups said, making reform of transport – responsible for more carbon emissions than any other sector in the UK – an urgent priority.

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Singapore University Team Completes Flight-Test of Homegrown eVTOL

Nanyang Technological University (NTU) led the programme, with two research demonstrators tested at the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) National Experimental Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Cochstedt. The larger aircraft has an eight-metre wingspan and reached an altitude of 92 metres, while the three-metre variant reached an altitude of 60 metres and a speed of around 120km/h.

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From Taxis to Mining Trucks, Chinese EVs Are Rewiring the Global South

Chinese EVs embed across the Global South in taxis, buses, and mining trucks, shifting influence toward commercial and industrial use.

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Nigeria: FAAN Admits Airport Taxi Fare Disparity Fueled Backlash As Bolt Resumes Services

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has cleared Bolt to resume operations at airports under its management, weeks after the temporary disruption of e-hailing services triggered concerns over higher transportation costs and inconvenience for passengers.

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Image: Via

A new study from UC Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center offers a detailed look at how microtransit interacts with fixed-route public transit, and the findings complicate the simple narrative that microtransit either helps or hurts conventional transit. The study, led by Susan Shaheen and published August 22, 2026 in Sustainability, examined three California microtransit systems –  Richmond Moves, the Silicon Valley Hopper serving Cupertino and Santa Clara, and Via West Sac, one of the longest continuously operating microtransit systems in the country. Researchers combined passenger surveys, vehicle activity data spanning June 2022 through November 2024, and seven expert interviews with operators and city officials, using Google Directions API data to estimate what each microtransit trip would have looked like on the fixed-route alternative.

The results point to a complementary role for microtransit, but one that varies sharply by market. Between 31% and 35% of Richmond Moves and SV Hopper riders reported connecting to public transit on their most recent trip, most often to BART or Caltrain, while 17% of Via West Sac riders did the same. At the same time, microtransit is drawing riders away from the bus in a meaningful share of cases: 23% of Richmond Moves riders and 17% of SV Hopper riders said they now ride the bus less, and in West Sacramento that figure reached 43%. Cost, speed, and better destination coverage were the most commonly cited reasons for the shift.

On trip performance, microtransit wait times consistently ran longer than fixed-route transit in the denser Bay Area markets – 74% of SV Hopper trips and 82% of Richmond Moves trips had longer waits than the bus alternative – but total door-to-door travel time was faster on microtransit in a majority of cases across all three systems, reaching 88% in Cupertino. Researchers attribute this to more direct routing once a passenger is on board, offsetting the wait-time disadvantage. A substantial share of trips also had no fixed-route equivalent at all – as high as 52% in West Sacramento – meaning microtransit is reaching trips conventional transit cannot currently serve. Geospatially, microtransit's advantage over fixed-route transit grew with distance from city centers in the Bay Area, while in the more auto-oriented West Sacramento market it outperformed fixed-route transit citywide.

The study's core message for transit agencies is that microtransit's value is highly context-dependent: it appears strongest, and least competitive with existing bus service, in lower-density areas with limited fixed-route coverage, while in denser suburban environments with robust bus networks it is more likely to draw ridership away from routes that already run efficiently. To strengthen complementarity, the researchers recommend displaying comparative travel-time information within booking apps, surfacing faster fixed-route alternatives when relevant, and offering transfer credits for microtransit trips that connect to fixed-route service – design choices aimed at steering riders toward, rather than away from, the broader public transportation network.

Source: MDPI

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