Spotted this relatively old (published in Oct 18, 2016) but fascinating podcast story about Uber’s battle with its Chinese’s rival Didi Chuxing for marketshare (via Bloomberg):

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/288743921″ params=”color=ff5500″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Also you can read the related article here.

The latest forecast from McKinsey Consulting on the disruptive trends unfolding in the automotive sector is very much along the lines of what I have been saying for quite a while.  It predictions comes packaged in a nice, easy to consume slick video presentation shown below.

Among the major disruptions, the ones I see having direct and tremendous social and roadsafety implications are ridesharing and vehicle automation, both aided by a confluence of technology and consumer aversion for driving/owning automobiles. Of course, the pace of disruption will be dictated by the Federal policies and that means our lawmakers must remain nimble and be willing to set aside their political ideologies to help the industry as it leaps forward.

Scenarios for growth of vehicle automation. Source: McKinsey

Check out the full report here

(Source: Autobloggreen)

With rising gas prices and often limited mass transit options in the United States, car pooling is often an excellent option for many urban commuters. However, finding people to car pool with can be problematic as can sharing costs fairly. The “creepiness” factor has often played against the willingness of many interested commuters to consider this as a viable option, at least until now.

Image Courtesy: Carbuddy

That’s where CarBuddy.com comes into play. When you sign up with CarBuddy, you enter information about your start and end points and whether you prefer to ride, drive or both. CarBuddy matches you up with ride partners that you can select from.

Participants also provide information about the car being driven and CarBuddy calculates fair costs for the trip being taken. The costs are updated weekly and based on more than fuel prices. CarBuddy also factors in wear and tear and depreciation on the car being driven. Based on distance traveled, a cost is calculated for each participant and passengers are charged each week and drivers reimbursed. CarBuddy takes 8 percent off the top of the transaction to pay for its services. Users can cancel at anytime or even switch car pool partners if they want.

The company will also pay for a cab service up to four times a year in the event a passenger gets stranded.