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Setting the Agenda: The Legal and Historical Context to Best Understand How Transportation Technology Might Be Regulated to Combat Forced Labor
Transportation is a piece of all human activity. As individuals and as a society, the logistics of getting people and goods from one place to another is a question we answer countless times a day. Just today, billions of people drove to work, took the bus to school, used a rideshare to get to the store, or took the train into the city to enjoy an evening out on the town. This list does not even consider all the items people have ordered online which will be shipped and delivered to homes. Even more exciting is the innovation that inspired all the aforementioned modes of transportation; transportation technology has the amazing potential to make our lives easier, more efficient, and more equitable. But implementing all this technology requires labor, and the technology can only benefit those who have access to it. Most of us have never truly considered whose labor makes mobility possible. Relatedly, it is hard to imagine life without access to transportation if you are a person who has always known how they will get to work. This article will provide a framework to better understand one type of labor within the industry, exploited labor, also known as forced labor. Forced labor is part of the transportation industry and is also impacted by a lack of transportation. Without reliable and safe transportation individuals are at a higher risk of forced labor in other industries. The bottom line is twofold: considering the impacts that an increased demand for new technology will have on people who work in mines, in the supply chain, and in transportation as a service, as well as considering legal tools to maximize access to transportation for historically underserved communities in light of new technology. All this to say that this article will consider how society might reimagine the regulation of emerging transportation technology in a way that combats the systemic vulnerability that leaves people at risk of forced labor. This will include both the labor being performed to manufacture and operate the technology, as well as the impact on access to transportation of the user and nonuser. Though this article will largely analyze the role of automated vehicles, other innovations including reconfigured public transportation and electrification will also be considered. Transportation is at the heart of everything humanity does and yet this article will only scratch the surface of these issues.Mobile-Based Transportation Companies, Mandatory Arbitration, and the Americans with Disabilities Act
Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and similar mobile-based transportation network companies (TNCs) have been involved in numerous legal battles in multiple jurisdictions. One contested issue concerns whether TNC drivers are employees or independent contractors. Uber recently lost this battle to some extent in the UK, but won it in California. Another issue concerns the TNCs’ use of mandatory (pre-dispute) arbitration clauses in their standard form service agreements with both drivers and passengers. These arbitration clauses purport to obligate such future plaintiffs to resolve any dispute with the defendant TNC outside of court and, typically, on an individual rather than a class basis. TNCs have had mixed success enforcing arbitration clauses contained in service agreements with their drivers under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). As for passengers, TNCs have been increasingly litigating disability-based discrimination claims brought against them and/or their drivers pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These claims have largely arisen in two situations.The Dept. of Labor Changes up the Employee vs. Contractor Debate for Gig Workers
Last year I wrote about Uber and Lyft’s battle against a California law that required them to treat their drivers as employees, rather than contractors. Then, in November, California voters passed Prop. 22, which exempted app-based drivers from that law, something Claire covered in detail. Two recent actions…AVs Must Avoid the Discriminatory Impacts of Today’s Rideshares
In light of the 2021 Law and Mobility Conference’s focus on equity, the Journal of Law & Mobility Blog will publish a series of blog posts surveying the civil rights issues with connected and autonomous vehicle development in the U.S. This is the third part of the AV &…The Last Mile of Public Space
By Vanessa Casado Pérez* When we think of transportation, we hardly ever think of sidewalks, albeit they are transportation corridors as much as roads or highways. Managing sidewalk space is not easy. There are multiple uses competing for this public space, as it is even called “our last commons.”…Uber and Lyft to Remain Online in California, While Two Other Recent Cases Highlight Other Legal Issues for Uber
Last week I discussed the California Superior Court decision that ruled that under California law Uber and Lyft must classify their ridesharing drivers as employees, rather than independent contractors. In response to that ruling, both companies had threatened to shut down service across the state. Yesterday, an appeals court…California Court Case and COVID-19 Disrupt the Relationship Between Drivers and Ridesharing Services
This week a California Superior Court ruled that transportation network company (“TNC”) titans Uber and Lyft have to classify drivers as employees, rather than independent contractors. The suit, spearheaded by the state’s Attorney General, sought to bring the two ride-sharing companies into compliance with Assembly Bill 5 (“AB…Decreased Mobility
An IBM report released earlier this month revealed some significant changes in consumer sentiment and public willingness to use certain mobility methods as a result of COVID-19. The study polled more than 25,000 adults during the month of April. Of the respondents that regularly used buses, subways, or trains:…Turtle Shuttles, Inching Their Way Forward To Commercial Deployment
Up to now, the way forward for roadways-based, commercial automated mobility remained somewhat of a mystery. Surely, we would not see AVs in the hand of individual owners anytime soon – too expensive. “Robotaxi” fleets commanded by the likes of Uber and Lyft seemed the most plausible option. There was,…Road Safety and Society – Environmental Considerations
Last week, the United States declined to sign the “Stockholm Declaration,” an international agreement to set targets for reducing road fatalities. The reason given for not signing the declaration was the U.S.’s objection to items within the document that referenced climate change, equity, gender equality, and other issues.