sharing economy

Marriott International's Homes & Villas home-rental initiative offers luxury properties in 100 markets. It's an example of how the hotel and short-term home-rental businesses are converging.

Staying At A Hotel Or An Airbnb? The Lines Are Blurring

4:55pm May 02, 2019

by Yuki Noguchi

Consumers want more options than the standard queen room. That's driven hotel chains into the home-rental business, while Airbnb is looking to make inroads into the hotel business.

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Steven T. Johnson rents a bed at the PodShare in Hollywood, Calif. "When you don't own things, you don't have to keep track of them," he says. "You just show up."

The Affluent Homeless: A Sleeping Pod, A Hired Desk And A Handful Of Clothes

6:15pm April 23, 2019

by Sam Sanders

Many young people participate in the rental economy. They own less stuff than their parents' generation, and they rent or share a lot more. For some it's a choice; for others, a necessity.

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Willard Middle School students chop carrots for a meal they will sell through Josephine.

Why One Startup Is Offering Meals Made By Home Cooks And Middle-Schoolers

6:30pm May 19, 2016

by Natalie Bettendorf

Young people are looking for new takes on fast food. Enter Josephine, a company that connects home chefs in the San Francisco area with folks in their neighborhood who are hungry for a good meal.

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Code Switch And Hidden Brain Teamed Up For An #AirbnbWhileBlack Twitter Chat

4:32pm April 29, 2016

by Leah Donnella

On Friday, Code Switch's Gene Demby and Hidden Brain's Shankar Vedantam led a Twitter chat to discuss what it's like to be a person of color participating in the sharing economy.

How A Suit Against Uber Could Redefine The Sharing Economy

3:09pm September 02, 2015

by Laura Sydell

A federal judge has allowed some drivers to proceed with a class-action suit against the ride-hailing service. The case could affect other companies in the sharing economy such as Airbnb and Lyft.

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A man leaves the headquarters of Uber in San Francisco. The California Labor Commission has ruled that one Uber driver in California is an employee of the company, and is owed certain benefits.

California Labor Commission Rules Uber Driver Is An Employee, Not A Contractor

10:15am June 18, 2015

by Sam Sanders

An Uber driver in San Francisco will be paid more than $4,000 in expenses.

When The Sharing Economy Brings Unexpected Experiences

5:34pm May 06, 2015

by Emma Bowman

The number of people using these services is growing fast. Find out what happens when a writer rents out his Mini Cooper and an Airbnb tenant learns something terrible has happened to his host.

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Joel Xu, 25, drives in Shanghai for People's Uber, a ride-sharing service. He makes about $4,000 a month – a good wage in Shanghai – and loves meeting new people he'd otherwise never encounter.

World News

People's Republic Of Uber: Making Friends, Chauffeuring People In China

11:32am May 06, 2015

by Frank Langfitt

Uber is becoming more popular in China, but many drivers say they don't do it for the money. They say they like the human connection and the freedom.

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Peerby allows people to share their stuff through a mobile app for free.

Why Buy When You Can Borrow? App Connects People And Stuff

1:41pm January 02, 2015

by Eleanor Beardsley

Millions of people use apps to share their homes and their cars. Now Peerby, an app developed in the Netherlands, helps people to share things like power drills and bicycle pumps with people nearby.

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National

Airbnb, New York State Spar Over Legality Of Rentals

9:24am October 17, 2014

by Ilya Marritz

The state's attorney general says nearly three-quarters of Airbnb's listings in New York City are illegal. The company says local laws should be changed to accommodate the sharing economy.

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