The delivery industry is evolving in order to keep up with the rise of home delivery. Arrival, a startup company in the process of building electric delivery vans, plans to add new vehicles to the roads in the next few years. The company plans to offer vehicles with different…

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 &…

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…

These past few weeks millions of people went online, added various items to their cart, and hit “submit order.” From Thanksgiving until the end of December, the volume of packages hitting the road will be substantial. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday shopping all taking place in a short…

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:…

There is no doubt that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), i.e. drone aircraft or drones, are an increasingly popular and strangely normal aspect of our everyday lives in 2020. And how could they not be? When there is a product that can appeal to pretty much any and every one…

This fall we’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about how connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) will change the structure of our cities, from the curb, to public transit, and beyond. In my last post before the holidays, I want to take a look at how…

On November 19, the NTSB held a public board meeting on the 2018 Uber accident in Tempe, Arizona, involving an “automated” (actually level 3) Uber-operated Volvo SUV. One woman, Elaine Herzberg, a pedestrian, died in the accident. In the wake of the report, it is now a good time…

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.

Over the last few years, emerging mobility technologies from CAVs to e-scooters have become the targets of malicious hackers. CAVs, for example, are complicated machines with many different components, which opens up many avenues for attack. Hackers can reprogram key fobs and keyless ignition systems. Fleet management software…