Milwaukee ride-sharing startup “Bid Ride” allows customers to haggle their fare. What could possibly be next … singing for your supper? LINK
In Finland, passengers can pay for cab rides by singing. ? A clean-energy co came up with the idea to sponsor a fleet of BMW i3 electric cars and transform them into taxis as part of a special promotion during the Ruisrock music festival in July. LINK
Zipcar & Enterprise paid NYC to have their logos on Parking Signs. LINK
- FLASHBACK: NY Governor floats the idea of selling off naming rights to subway stations. LINK
AAA reports that Google’s Android Auto and Apple’s Carplay were significantly faster on average than car manufacturer’s native dashboard infotainment systems. The smartphone apps were 24% faster when making phone calls and 31% faster programming navigationthan standard car systems. LINK
Speaking of 3rd party Apps connected to cars, a warm congrats to friends, fellow Startupbootcamp alums and Berlin neighbors, High Mobility for building a product worthy of raising €3M. They’re building an API platform so developers can connect to cars. I’m hearing a lot of good things around Mobility APIs these days ?. LINK
Here’s a good example of what can be done with a Mobility API ? … Scout FM allows drivers to pick the length of their trip and their app will match podcasts to the commute time. Shows are played on your car radio. Are we still calling it a car radio? LINK
Report: 42% of Brits think electric cars can’t go in a car wash. LINK
Bloomberg reports Uber is in preliminary talks with Careem to acquire their Middle Eastern ride-hailing service. LINK
Prediction: Self-driving car manufacturers will own the car insurance business. LINK
Great detective work from TechCrunch … could Anthony Levandowski, of stealing Waymo’s Trade Secrets fame, be back with a new self-driving truck startup LINK
- FLASHBACK: Anthony Levandowski’s Nanny files a lawsuit accusing him of failure to pay wages, health code and labor violations, and the intentional infliction of emotional distress, among other things. This story gets bananas when the nanny drops dime on his clandestine operation. LINK
Renault is preparing to launch a last mile pilot public transportation program with self-driving cars in France’s Normandy region. A human safety driver will be seated at the controls of each vehicle, with an engineer in the front or rear passenger seat to monitor operations. LINK
Drones replace July 4th fireworks in California, Colorado and Arizona worried about wildfires. LINK
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reminds YouTubers trying to make July 5th’s viral videos … “Don’t fly drones through July 4th fireworks” LINK
Digital driver’s licenses are coming to Iowa. Civil libertarians are concerned that police could be looking at a driver’s phone while a text message pops up on the screen indicating some criminal activity. I bet there’s a college student in Austin developing fake digital driver’s licenses for underage students right now. LINK
Hugh Grant dislikes Paris taxi drivers so much that he goes on TV telling the world that one driver ‘kidnapped’ his wife. Oh and don’t bother trying to mug him… he doesn’t carry cash either. LINK
Crazy random stuff I learned this week that didn’t happen this week…
- Did you know that there are Women-only parking spaces in China? They are bigger than average spaces and have a picture of a high heeled shoe on them. Many complained that the larger spaces reinforced the stereotype that women were are drivers than men. LINK
- Did you know that somewhere in NYC there’s a yellow Back to the Future DeLorean taxi? It was a designed for …. wait for it … an advertisement LINK
