VANCOUVER, BC—Travis Kalanick, founder and CEO of Uber, took the stage at TED 2016 to talk about the “future of human-driven transportation.” How can we use technology to cut traffic, congestion, and parking woes? Kalanick suggested that we have the technology; the problems lie in the current regulatory landscape. And Kalanick believes that history is on his side. There was “an Uber before there was Uber,” Kalanick said during his presentation today. He referenced a service called the jitney, a ride-sharing endeavor that was popular more than 100 years ago (the word “jitney” was slang for “a nickel” at the time). In 1914, an enterprising LA man grew tired of long trolley lines and simply put a sign on his car advertising five cent rides. It exploded. As difficult as it is to believe, Uber does as many rides in LA per day in 2016 as the jitney did in 1915, Kalanick said.…
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