Will ending curbside pickups for Uber, Lyft and taxis help LAX's traffic? - Los Angeles Times

Even in a city infamous for its traffic, the congestion at Los Angeles International Airport was growing dire.

Spurred by extensive construction, a surge in air travel and the arrival of Uber and Lyft, traffic volumes at the nation’s second-busiest airport rose by half over a decade, turning a drive through the 1.5-mile terminal area into a half-hour ordeal.

Without major changes, airport officials warned, traffic at LAX on an average summer day would soon resemble the bumper-to-bumper crawl on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

On Friday, city officials unveiled a plan aimed at reducing the congestion.

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Starting at the end of October, travelers leaving LAX will be required to board a shuttle or walk to a waiting area east of Terminal 1 to hail an Uber, Lyft or taxi. Drop-off policies, and pickups for family and friends, will not change.

The plan will remain in place until the completion of an elevated airport train, scheduled for 2023. The people-mover will arrive every two minutes and will whisk passengers between the terminals, a car rental facility, a ground transportation hub and a Metro station.

The sleek train and a $14-billion overhaul of the aging airport are major parts of L.A.’s efforts to improve transportation in traffic-choked Southern California before the 2028 Summer Olympics. Where pickups will occur after the people-mover opens is still unclear.

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The idea of transferring to a shuttle bus to catch a ride home has frustrated and dismayed many travelers, who say more schlepping will make LAX more stressful.

“It’ll be a lot less convenient, and it will probably take a lot longer to get home,” Kristi Nichols, 23, an engineer who travels frequently for work and to visit family, said at the airport Friday.

Starting next month, she said, she’ll try to get picked up by family or book a SuperShuttle instead.

Officials are asking travelers to give the new system a try. Frequent bus service and a well-organized pickup area may be more efficient than today’s crowded curbsides, they said, where riders can wait for a half-hour or more while Uber and Lyft drivers inch through traffic.

“You will no longer have to fight the traffic to get out of the central terminal area,” said Keith Wilschetz, deputy executive director of operations at Los Angeles World Airports. “Once you’re in your car, you’re right on Sepulveda.”

Uber and Lyft account for 27% of the 100,000 vehicles in the LAX terminal area on an average day, Wilschetz said. Taxis make up 4%. Shifting pickups to a parking lot will eliminate about 15% of the vehicles in the terminal, he said.

During the first half of 2019, LAX saw 10% more vehicle trips than in the same time period in 2016, the first full year that Uber and Lyft operated there. The number of Uber and Lyft trips soared 123% over that period, while taxi trips fell 39%, according to city data.

Meanwhile, ridership plummeted on high-occupancy buses and shuttles, data show. Trips on LAX’s FlyAway buses fell by two-thirds, as did rides on shared vans such as SuperShuttle and Prime Time. Courtesy shuttles to car rental facilities, parking lots and hotels saw a 20% decline.

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Passengers hoping to go home in an Uber or Lyft should order a ride as they pick up their bags, then board a shuttle on the lower level of the airport, Wilschetz said. Travelers looking for a cab should proceed directly to the waiting area, where there will be a taxi queue.

Curbside lanes on the arrivals level will be converted to bus-only lanes to speed travel times. Bright green shuttles are supposed to arrive every three to five minutes, and will make a maximum of two stops before going to the pickup lot.

The pickup area, at the corner of World Way and Sky Way, is a parking lot converted into a plaza with umbrellas, trash cans, bathrooms and phone charging stations. The area will offer food trucks that will operate from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Many travelers will form their first impression of L.A. based on the waiting area, Wilschetz said, so “we want it to be a good one.”

City airport officials in August awarded a $65.5-million contract to set up and maintain the lot, operate the passenger shuttles, direct traffic and offer customer service for travelers who are lost or frustrated.

Uber has some concerns with the plan, a spokesman said, and company officials hope LAX will “listen to and incorporate” input on how to improve the system. Lyft said the company has been “working closely” with the airport to reduce congestion and shorten wait times.

Drivers for both companies currently wait near the airport, in an area that some drivers call “the pig pen,” until they are assigned a rider. Matching with a passenger and fighting through terminal traffic to reach the curb can take up to an hour, and drivers are not paid for that time.

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“You should see Monday mornings,” said Lyft driver Jorge Ferran, 63. “It’s horrendous.”

If it works, the new system could help drivers pick up passengers more quickly, which would increase their earnings, said Harry Campbell, who publishes the Rideshare Guy website.

But that depends on whether passengers give the shuttles a try, he said. Already, he said, people are talking about being picked up by friends or family again, or trying buses that carry travelers from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

“There’s a psychological barrier to having to take a shuttle to an Uber,” Campbell said. “It’s just a hassle.”

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https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2019-10-05/lax-ending-uber-lyft-taxis-curbside-pickup-traffic-construction

2019-10-05 12:00:00Z
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The GM strike is really about the switch to electric cars - MarketWatch

From the outside looking in, the talks between the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) striking members and the management of General Motors look like normal disagreements over pay. In reality, they’re really about the future of cars in the U.S.

UAW members’ anxieties and uncertainties are actually shared by GM GM, -0.20%  and most other automakers, which know that it’s no longer a question of when internal combustion engine cars will be replaced by electric vehicles, but how quickly the changeover will take place.

The shift to electric means a fundamental transformation of what workers will do and how many are needed to do it.

Electric cars have far fewer parts, which means far fewer people are needed to put them together. When one analyst took apart a Chevrolet Bolt and Volkswagen Golf, he found that the Golf had 125 more moving parts than its electric counterpart. What’s more, the electric vehicles’ parts are often easier to put in place using automated machines. The UAW’s own estimates that the move to electrification may cost 35,000 members to lose their jobs may not be the most scientific study ever done, but it’s also probably not far off.

Fewer workers needed

GM has attempted to appease the UAW with specific promises, including the construction of an electric battery plant in one of the Ohio cities hit hardest by recent factory closings. But even this tactic has only confirmed the UAW’s worst fears: The battery plant won’t need as many workers, and GM would prefer to pay them less than what other workers make at plants that require more complicated assembly.

None of this is anyone’s fault. GM is trying to respond to a global trend that it needs to follow in order to stay relevant. The UAW is trying to protect its members. But it’s crucial that the parties work together, because they collectively represent a part of the American automotive industry that’s falling behind its global competition.

Take the year 2023, for example. The UAW and GM are negotiating a four-year contract that will expire then. Meanwhile, in Germany this week, the first hearings were held in a class-action lawsuit brought by 450,000 consumers in that country against its largest automaker, Volkswagen, over the diesel emissions scandal. Legal experts believe that the lawsuit, like the UAW’s contract, will also find its resolution in 2023.

Europeans embrace EVs

This matters because it’s one small example of the cultural differences between American automakers and the companies they’re competing against. In Germany, the people are pushing the automaker to move away from the traditional toward new technology. That push has no parallel here in the U.S.

Timeline projections differ, but many analysts and auto executives believe that EVs will become comparable or cheaper than internal combustion vehicles by the mid-2020s, and most agree that electric cars will begin to outsell conventional ones by 2030 or the mid-2030s. And most of that EV growth is happening in China and Europe, not in the United States.

Sales of EVs in China in 2018 were higher than the rest of the world combined, and the Chinese government has invested over $60 billion to shape an automotive industry fueled by electricity. In Europe, France and Germany recently announced a partnership to invest nearly $7 billion to develop EV batteries that solve the problem of limited range.

China and Europe are two different sides of the same coin. The Chinese auto market is so new that many of its consumers are about to purchase their first car, and its automakers have no legacy attachments to combustible engines. European automakers and consumers are in the opposite position, yet both, thanks in part to heavier regulations, have come to grips more quickly with the electric transition, invested more heavily in its future, and are therefore more prepared for change.

Tesla as market leader

The United States has Tesla TSLA, -0.69%, far and away the market share leader in electric vehicles. But in nearly every other case, it lags far behind.

A resolution to the strike is probably imminent. That’s good news. Better news would be an increase in the amount of collaboration between the UAW and GM, and other American automakers and the workers they employ.

What looks like a fight for today is actually a fight for future American relevance. It would just make a lot more sense if the people that we need to compete globally were working together as a team, rather than fighting each other.

Daron Gifford leads Plante Moran’s automotive industry consulting services.

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https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-gm-strike-is-really-about-the-switch-to-electric-cars-2019-10-05

2019-10-05 11:00:00Z
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UAW strikers in Texas watch Detroit as union leaders meet with GM - Detroit Free Press

Jamie L. LaReau Detroit Free Press

Published 8:22 AM EDT Oct 5, 2019

Some 1,200 miles south of Detroit, several thousand UAW workers in Texas are intently watching daily for any news from the Renaissance Center.

Negotiators for the UAW and General Motors have been holed up in the RenCen in bargaining discussions since GM's contract with the union expired on Sept. 14. That prompted about 46,000 union members to go on strike nationwide against GM two days later.

Those strikers include nearly 5,000 workers at GM's Arlington Assembly plant in Texas.

“I haven’t heard anybody say, 'Let’s go back to work,'" said Mike Cartwright, a union worker at the plant. "They want to get back to work, but they want to hear from the bargaining table that they have an agreement.”

On Friday, Terry Dittes, the UAW's lead negotiator with GM, told strikers the two sides had made "good progress regarding the issues of health care and a path for temporary employees becoming seniority members." Work remained, he said, on wages, job security and other matters — though temp workers and health care are known to be key issues.

Some analysts estimate the strike has cost GM about $1 billion so far, while workers are getting only their UAW strike pay of $250 a week. 

More: GM can withstand losses of UAW strike — because of what it stands to gain

More: UAW rejects GM's latest offer, tells members it 'came up short'

Right-to-work

Nearly all of Arlington's 5,000 hourly workers belong to the UAW, remarkable considering that Texas has been a right-to-work state since 1941. That means that under the labor code, a person cannot be denied employment because of membership or nonmembership in a labor union or other labor organization.

Michigan is also a right-to-work state in recent years, but with a far deeper union history than Texas.

Labor leaders at Arlington say UAW members are committed to this strike.

"We were one of the plants with a higher percentage of members authorizing the UAW to go on strike," said Ken Hines, shop chairman at UAW Local 276. "Nobody wants to strike, but we felt it was necessarily to win back some of the concessions we gave during the bankruptcy period."

One of those was a cost-of-living-allowance that union members want reinstated, among other issues. 

Hines said most strikers prefer to return to work, but are prepared for a long strike and will, "continue to sacrifice for as long as it takes.”

The union wants job security, higher wages and a pathway for temps to be hired permanently with better pay and benefits. GM wants to lower its costs, preferably with hiring more temporary workers.

The union also wants to protect its health care benefits, whereas GM has been said to want the union members to pay more than the 3% of total costs they pay now. 

The two sides are at odds, which means Saturday is day 20 of the strike.

Hines, 50, made sure his members would be prepared for a long strike. Starting early last year, he would remind members at any union meetings to start saving their money.

“Because you never know what the future holds and we wanted to make sure our membership was prepared in case we went on strike," said Hines.

Hines has phone numbers for about 1,700 of his union members programmed in his cell phone, he said. He has text messaged about half of them since the strike started to check on their welfare.

"There are some who are struggling," Hines said. Those are usually the temporary workers who made less and did not get overtime to save up money.

Hines said he has directed them to food banks. Also, local residents and businesses have donated food, money and other items to the local union hall for those who need help.

American dream city

Cartwright, 59, is OK financially to endure a strike. He was at those union meetings and remembers Hines saying, "Hey, remember contract time is coming up and we don’t know what to expect so save your money.’”

Cartwright has worked for GM for 34 years. He spent six years at GM's Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kansas. The rest of his time has been at Arlington, a massive 5.75 million square-foot facility that sits on 250 acres right between Dallas and Fort Worth. 

Arlington is the American Dream City, according to its official government website. GM's website said the plant churns out 1,200 of GM's most profitable vehicles daily: Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, GMC Yukon and Cadillac Escalade full-size SUVs. 

 “We know we make a lot of money for the corporation here," said Cartwright.

Still, Hines and Cartwright said workers in Arlington want assurance that GM will invest in U.S. manufacturing and not stop assigning vehicles suddenly there, as GM did last fall at four other plants in the United States. 

GM said it would indefinitely idle Detroit-Hamtramck, Lordstown Assembly in Ohio, and a transmission plant in Warren and one in Baltimore. As part of its initial offer to the UAW, GM had offered up solutions to keep Detroit-Hamtramck running by building an electric pickup and grant a battery cell manufacturing facility to the Lordstown area. GM said it would invest $7 billion in U.S. manufacturing and create or retain 5,400 jobs.

More: Fate of GM Lordstown plant unresolved as contract talks linger: What could happen

More: GM promises UAW 5,400 jobs, $7B in US investment: What it means

More support

Cartwright has lived through past strikes. In 2007, the UAW went on strike against GM for two days. Cartwright said the community was less supportive then, wondering why the workers were on strike. 

But this time it's different. He said GM is "a great company" that pitches in with the UAW workers to do local charity.

"We do a lot of community work here and we have a connection with businesses and organizations, so we’re getting more support from the community this time," said Cartwright. "Now when we have issues we don’t have to explain them. People know what we’re about.”

Cartwright said there are 10 gates surrounding the facility in Arlington and every day each has about 10 picketers in front of them. Everyone does 4 hours a week picket duty and often union members in other industries show up to picket in solidarity with them.

The members also watch social media, their email and websites for any updated news on the strike.

"Our key issues are the pay on our benefits and the treatment of temporary workers," said Cartwright. "It’s about fairness. Most of us have been here for years, the temporary worker doesn’t affect us. But it’s about all of us and we want what’s fair. The mood is that everybody here understands that this is a process we have to go through and we have to support our leadership.”

For many at Arlington, it's their first time striking, said Cartwright. "They heard about past sacrifices, they now see and feel the sacrifices."

And in a right-to-work state, Cartwright said the strike will serve to "improve our membership and our ties.”

Contact Jamie L. LaReau: 313-222-2149 or jlareau@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. Read more on General Motors and sign up for our autos newsletter.

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https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2019/10/05/gm-strike-update-uaw-arlington-texas/3865228002/

2019-10-05 10:00:00Z
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Recall: 1.1 million pocketknives can pop open due to faulty lock; injuries reported - USA TODAY

Kelly Tyko USA TODAY

Published 10:27 PM EDT Oct 4, 2019

Harbor Freight Tools is recalling about 1.1 million Gordon Folding Knives because they pose a safety risk.

According to the recall notice posted on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website, the knives' "locking mechanism can fail to engage on extension of the blade, posing a laceration hazard."

The recall comes after seven reports of the pocketknives failing to lock, which resulted in "six reports of laceration injuries, including four that required medical attention," the notice states.

The knives were sold between July 2008 through July 2019 at the Calabasas, California-based home improvement chain for about $5. The chain has more than 1,000 stores nationwide.

Flour recall: King Arthur's Flour expands unbleached flour recall over E. coli concerns

What we know: Walmart and Kroger also halt sales of Zantac, generic ranitidine over possible cancer link

The knife is stainless steel with black metal on the handle and five cutouts on each side of the handle, according to the recall notice. The knife measures about 3 inches and has a silver-colored metal belt clip attached to the back of the handle.

“China” is printed on one side and “Stainless Steel” is printed on the other side of the knife blade.

Consumers should stop using the recalled knives immediately and return them to a  store for a "full refund in the form of a $5 store gift card plus sales tax."

For more information about the recall, call Harbor Freight at 800-444-3353 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PT Monday through Friday or email recall@harborfreight.com.

Follow Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko

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https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/10/04/harbor-freight-recall-1-1-million-gordon-folding-knives-recalled/3870578002/

2019-10-05 02:26:00Z
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Where to Get Free and Discounted Tacos Today for National Taco Day - Lifehacker

Today, October 4, is National Taco Day. Like all made-up food-related holidays, that means you can score some great discounts on tacos today from a pretty wide range of places.

We’ve rounded up some of the best deals from national chains, but if you have a local favorite in your town it’s always worth checking to see if they have a bargain going on as well. And if you know about a superior deal that we missed, let us know in the comments.

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Taco Bell

Taco Bell will be offering “gift sets” in honor of National Taco Day. The packs will include four tacos: two crunchy and two nacho cheese. It’s also offering a way for you to send a digital gift card for $5+tax to a friend in honor of the day to cover the cost of their taco gift set.

Applebees

Applebees locations in Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and New York that are owned by Doherty Enterprises will be offering the Chicken Wonton Taco appetizer for $1 for National Taco Day.

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Long John Silver’s

Get a free taco of your choice on Friday with any purchase at Long John Silver’s.

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Chipotle

Chipotle isn’t offering a specific National Taco Day deal, but if you sign up for the company’s rewards program you can get free chips and guac after spending $5.

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Del Taco

Del Taco is offering two different offers for National Taco Day when you download its app: a free Del Taco with any purchase, and a free Beyond Taco (using the plant-based meat) with any app purchase.

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Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box is offering a free taco with any purchase for National Taco Day provided you’re signed up for the restaurant’s e-offers.

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https://lifehacker.com/where-to-get-free-and-discounted-tacos-today-for-nation-1838626027

2019-10-04 12:00:00Z
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PC maker HP to cut up to 9,000 jobs in restructuring push - CNBC

U.S. personal computer maker HP Inc. said on Thursday it will cut up to 16% of its workforce as part of a restructuring plan aimed at cutting costs.

The company will cut about 7,000 to 9,000 jobs through a combination of employee exits and voluntary early retirement, it said in a statement.

HP estimates the plan will result in annual gross run rate savings of about $1 billion by the end of fiscal 2022, it added.

The company had about 55,000 employees worldwide as of Oct. 31, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That would mean up to 16% targeted in the cuts, Reuters calculation showed.

The logo of the 3D printer manufacturer HP is seen during the event. Feria de Barcelona hosts the third edition of the (3D) industry week.

Paco Freire | LightRocket | Getty Images

In connection with the restructuring, HP said it expects to incur an overall charge of about $1 billion, of which $100 million will be realized when it reports its fourth-quarter earnings.

"We are taking bold and decisive actions as we embark on our next chapter," said Enrique Lores, the company's incoming chief executive officer.

"We see significant opportunities to create shareholder value and we will accomplish this by advancing our leadership, disrupting industries and aggressively transforming the way we work."

Lores will take over the CEO position on Nov. 1 from Dion Weisler.

Palo Alto, California-based HP also said its board on Sept. 30 approved an additional $5 billion in share buybacks.

HP expects to generate free cash flow of at least $3 billion in fiscal 2020 and return at least 75% to shareholders through a 10% quarterly dividend increase and share buybacks, it added.

The company said it expects its adjusted earnings in the range of $2.22 to $2.32 per share for fiscal 2020.

For the current fiscal year, it expects adjusted earnings to be in range of $2.18 to $2.22, the company said when reporting its third-quarter earnings.

HP's shares have fallen about 10% this year up to Thursday's close.

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https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/04/pc-maker-hp-to-cut-up-to-9000-jobs-in-restructuring-push.html

2019-10-04 09:24:18Z
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BP CEO Bob Dudley to step down, Bernard Looney will succeed - CNBC

British Petroleum (BP) Chief Executive Bob Dudley (R) participates to a conference during the event "Tomorrow in Motion" on October 1st, 2018 on the eve of the first press day of the Paris Motor Show.

ERIC PIERMONT | AFP | Getty Images

BP chief executive Bob Dudley will step down from his current role at the end of March next year, the energy giant announced Friday.

Dudley, who has worked with BP for 40 years and held the position of CEO for almost a decade, will be replaced by BP's current upstream chief executive, Bernard Looney.

The FTSE 100 giant said in a press release that Dudley, who is 64 years old, has decided to step down from his role following the delivery of the firm's 2019 full-year results on February 4, 2020. He will then retire on March 31 later that year.

Looney, 49, will continue with his current role until February 5, at which point he will take the reins from Dudley and join the BP board.

Shares of BP traded up almost 1% on the news.

"It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve this company and work in this industry for the past four decades. I have worked with so many committed people from all over the world — both inside and outside BP — and I am enormously proud of all the things we have achieved together to provide energy for the world," Dudley said in a statement on Friday.

"Bernard (Looney) is a terrific choice to lead the company next. He knows BP and our industry as well as anyone but is creative and not bound by traditional ways of working. I have no doubt that he will thoughtfully lead BP through the transition to a low carbon future," he added.

'Challenging time'

Dudley took over as CEO of BP on October 1, 2010 in the wake of the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe killed 11 people and threatened the company's existence.

His job was to try to restore the company to a position it held before the explosion, managing the company's balance sheet as it faced billions of dollars worth of penalties and clean-up costs.

"Bob has dedicated his whole career to the service of this industry. He was appointed chief executive at probably the most challenging time in BP's history," BP Chairman Helge Lund said in a statement.

"During his tenure he has led the recovery from the Deepwater Horizon accident, rebuilt BP as a stronger, safer company and helped it re-earn its position as one of the leaders of the energy sector. This company — and indeed the whole industry — owes him a debt of gratitude," Lund said.

A BP company logo is displayed on a fuel pump on the forecourt of a gas station operated by BP Plc in London, U.K.

Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The BP CEO also faced a historic collapse in oil prices in 2014, with the downturn in crude futures ultimately forcing BP to pull back on capital spending plans and delay investment projects.

More recently, BP agreed to a request from shareholders in May for greater detail and transparency on how each capital investment decision would align with the Paris climate agreement — an international accord that seeks to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

Last month, Dudley said BP would sell some of its most carbon-intensive projects and reduce investment in others to try to improve the firm's environmental footprint.

The energy giant has been targeted by climate activist groups on numerous occasions in recent months, with demonstrators increasingly angry about the lack of progress toward a lower-carbon future.

Shares of BP have increased by about 10% since Dudley came to the helm.

Who is Bernard Looney?

Looney has run BP's upstream business since April 2016 and has been a member of the firm's executive management team since November 2010.

BP's upstream segment includes 17,000 people operating across almost 30 countries and produces around 2.6 million barrels equivalent of oil and gas a day.

An Irish citizen, Looney joined BP in 1991 as a drilling engineer and worked in operational roles in the North Sea, Vietnam and the Gulf of Mexico.

"It has been a great pleasure to work with Bob and it is an honor to succeed him as chief executive. I am humbled by the responsibility that is being entrusted to me by the board and am truly excited about both the role and BP's future," Looney said.

"Our company has amazing people, tremendous assets, and a set of core values that guide our actions, but most of all we have a desire to be better. I look forward to tapping into that desire and building on the strong foundation that Bob has built as we meet society's demand for cleaner, better energy."

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2019-10-04 05:42:57Z
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