Drivers booted off the platform say they have little recourse to appeal as rideshare giant increasingly relies on automated systems
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Michael Thorn thought he’d suffered enough after his Uber passenger punched him in the head, sending him to hospital. But then the rideshare platform deactivated his account.
“It’s even worse than getting belted,” Thorn said.
Continue reading...Users of share cars will need to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket
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Australia’s two biggest car-share companies, GoGet and Flexicar, have removed fuel cards from their Melbourne vehicles after a spate of break-ins and thefts that a senior GoGet executive described as “one of the dumbest crimes ever”.
The change will force users of share cars to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket amid record-high fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.
Continue reading...Food delivery services say the proposed laws will affect their workers, while shared e-vehicle schemes claim the laws could make them uninsurable
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Legislation that would crack down on ebikes and e-scooters in Queensland could curtail food delivery services and potentially end shared e-vehicle schemes, industry figures warn.
The proposed laws would set an age limit of 16 on ebikes and e-scooters, require users to obtain a driver’s licence, and set a limit of 10km/h on almost all cycle lanes.
Continue reading...Premier Chris Minns says policy will give road users a ‘real alternative’ that’s cheaper than petrol
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Electric truck development and building more stations to charge them will be core pillars of a state’s revamped electric vehicle strategy designed to ease the pressure of rising fuel costs.
The New South Wales government unveiled its 2026 EV strategy on Tuesday in an effort to give confidence to motorists hesitant about switching from their increasingly pricey petrol cars.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Trips on Sydney’s key thoroughfares have fallen by thousands per day, according to government data
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Road traffic is falling on Australia’s east coast as fuel prices bite, with most key Sydney highways recording 20% fewer weekend trips.
The number of trips recorded on Sydney’s key thoroughfares has fallen by thousands of trips a day, according to New South Wales government data shared exclusively with Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...At least 432 ebike fires and 147 e-scooter fires recorded in 2025, up 38% and 20% respectively on previous year
Ebike and e-scooter fires in the UK reached a record high last year, an investigation has found, renewing concerns over the use of lithium batteries and unregulated marketplaces.
Fire brigade figures obtained by the Press Association show there were at least 432 ebike fires recorded across the UK in 2025, up 38% from 313 the previous year and more than five times higher than the 84 recorded in 2021.
Continue reading...Bank holiday traffic predicted to peak on Thursday, as petrol and diesel prices surge from fallout of Iran war
UK drivers are being urged to look for the cheapest petrol and “to fill up as usual” as travellers prepare to make 21.7m journeys on what is expected to be the busiest Easter on the roads in four years.
The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol rose by 20p in March, from 132.83p on the 1st to 152.83p on the 31st, raising concerns about the cost of filling up for Easter journeys. The higher fuel prices have been triggered by rising oil prices as a result of the US-Israel war against Iran.
Continue reading...UK researcher uses maths to explain seeming inevitability of phenomenon experienced by many motorists
It is a situation experienced by many motorists: one driver overtakes another only to find the slower car is right behind them when they reach a red light. Now a researcher has used mathematics to reveal why the situation feels inevitable.
Dr Conor Boland from Dublin City University has called his work “The Voorhees law of traffic”.
Continue reading...Electric buses are just 1% of the Australian fleet compared with 80% in urban China, a quarter in the Netherlands and 12% in the UK
As diesel climbs past $3 a litre amid fuel security concerns, transport advocates are calling for the rollout of electric buses across Australia to be prioritised.
In Australia, just 1% of buses are electric, compared with 80% of the urban fleet in China, a quarter in the Netherlands and 12% in the UK.
Continue reading...Company will assess whether drop to 186mph from 224mph will save money and help bring forward launch
Ministers have told High Speed Two to consider running its trains at lower speeds, in an attempt to rein in the spiralling budget and begin operations as soon as possible.
HS2 Ltd will assess whether limiting the speed to 186mph (300km/h) instead of 224mph could save money – potentially billions of pounds – and bring the railway into being earlier in the 2030s.
Continue reading...Doubling tariffs on imported steel will raise cost of the metal when Iran war is already inflating steel and concrete prices
One of HS2’s biggest contractors has warned the government that raising tariffs on foreign steel imports will “exacerbate” cost pressures for the UK construction industry, amid growing concern over the £100bn railway’s rising budget.
Ministers said last week they would double the tariffs on imported steel and slash the amount that can be bought from overseas, in an attempt to save Britain’s struggling steelmakers.
Continue reading...Other delivery and transport companies such as Uber, DoorDash and Australia Post are weighing whether to charge more
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Rideshare giant DiDi has raised its prices to cover soaring petrol costs, becoming one of the first major companies after the airlines to charge Australian consumers more as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.
Uber, DoorDash and Australia Post were among the delivery and transport companies weighing whether to add charges, as small businesses hike fees.
Continue reading...Refund systems for individual train operators to be merged into single service under nationalised rail body
Rail passengers will be able to claim compensation for delayed trains directly from the website where they bought their ticket, the government has said, as part of a shake-up to make rail travel simpler.
Passengers who use third-party retailers such as Trainline to buy tickets currently, have to submit applications for refunds to the relevant train operator for processing.
Continue reading...Passenger on Flight VA 328 alerted the crew who responded by ‘containing the device’ before plane landed
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A Virgin Australia flight from Brisbane to Melbourne was met by firefighters after smoke was seen coming from a vape on board.
Flight VA 328 landed safely and all passengers disembarked normally after a vape “activated” in the cabin shortly before landing at about 4pm on Sunday afternoon in Melbourne, Melbourne airport said.
Continue reading...Commuters on Craigieburn, Upfield, Ballarat and Seymour lines will be first to test tap-and-go technology
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Melbourne is finally poised to join other Australian cities in the tap-and-go era, with the state government confirming public trials for contactless credit and debit card payments will launch for suburban rail commuters on Monday.
Commuters on the Craigieburn, Upfield, Ballarat and Seymour lines will be the first to test the technology, allowing them to bypass the physical Myki card in favour of paying via a debit or credit card, smartphone or smartwatch.
Continue reading...Syaban Shadikillah told to get new driver’s licence after being issued one using photo of him with colander on his head
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A “Pastafarian” in rural Queensland has vowed to fight to keep his driver’s licence featuring a photo of him wearing a colander on his head, arguing it’s a matter of freedom of religion.
But the state government has told him he must hand it in and get a new one, as it was issued “in error”.
Continue reading...IAG reports record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at British Airways and sister airline Iberia
British Airways’ owner, International Airlines Group, has announced a sharp rise in annual profits to almost £4bn despite a slight fall in passenger numbers in 2025.
Pre-tax profits across IAG increased by 20% to €4.5bn (£3.9bn), with record operating profits on margins of more than 15% at BA and its sister airline Iberia.
Continue reading...Cars with higher real-world consumption may add to Australia’s difficulties in reducing transport emissions
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Another 10 cars have failed to live up to fuel efficiency promises when tested in the real world, adding to Australia’s difficulties in reducing emissions from transport.
The Australian Automobile Association’s latest test confirmed 76% of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles are still using more fuel on roads than in mandatory lab testing.
Continue reading...Transport minister Catherine King will pledge $230m for planning work for the first phase of a bullet train on Australia’s east coast
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Long-mooted plans for high-speed rail could be “shovel-ready” within two years, according to the federal government, which will on Tuesday announce another $230m for further planning work for fast trains between Sydney and Newcastle, as part of the first phase of an eventual east coast bullet train.
Rail journeys on the new fast train could take as little as one hour between Sydney and Newcastle, and 30 minutes between Sydney and the Central Coast, the transport and infrastructure minister, Catherine King, said. It currently takes more than 2.5 hours to travel by train from Sydney to Newcastle, and almost 1.5 hours from Sydney to the Central Coast.
Continue reading...Avanti service was to have been axed from mid-December but would have still run because of needs out of Euston
The express Manchester-London 7am Avanti service will take passengers after all, after the rail regulator conceded defeat in the face of public outcry over a ruling that would have left it running as an empty “ghost train” each day.
The 7am train, the only service linking the cities in under two hours, was set to be axed from the passenger table from mid-December – but would, as the Guardian reported on Saturday, have kept running empty from Piccadilly each day so it could run morning trains back out of Euston.
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