Uber Expands UberPOOL in Seattle as Lyft Launches Its Own Carpooling Service

GeekWire | Taylor Soper | April 13

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/uber-expands-uberpool-seattle-lyft-launches-carpooling-service/

“Uber is expanding its UberPOOL carpooling service in Seattle, just a few days after Lyft launched something similar in the Emerald City. Uber first introduced UberPOOL exclusively for rides to and from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport late last month after the Port of Seattle launched a pilot program allowing arriving passengers to hail uberX pick-ups at the terminal. Now the company is making the service available to much of Seattle proper. Already available in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and 25 other cities, UberPOOL allows Uber customers to carpool with others who are riding on similar routes.”

UW, Techies Work to Keep Graduates in State

Seattle Times | Rachel Lerman | April 13

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/uw-techies-work-together-to-keep-graduates-in-state/

“Washington companies want every University of Washington computer-science graduate to stay in the area, and the tech community is reaching out to encourage them to take jobs here. New Tech Seattle, a Meetup group that draws at least 300 people to events, hosted a student-focused meeting Tuesday night at the University of Washington to weave computer-science and engineering students into the community…Tech companies across the region say one of their biggest challenges is recruiting in an environment where supply doesn’t live up to demand. Washington Roundtable estimates there are more than 25,000 open jobs in the state that go unfilled, and 90 percent of those are in health care and science, technology and engineering fields.”

Seattle Tech World ‘on Pins and Needles’ as Virtual Reality Hits the Market

Seattle Times | Matt Day | April 11

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/virtual-reality-faces-biggest-real-life-test/

“Virtual reality is making the leap from the drawing board to the living room…The recent release of Facebook-owned Oculus Rift and the Vive, built by Bellevue’s Valve and Taiwanese phone maker HTC, is the biggest test to date of whether consumers are interested in a device that wraps an immersive screen around their face. It’s also a coming-out party for hundreds of Seattle-area engineers, game developers and other technologists who have been working to commercialize the once far-fetched technology. Meanwhile, a cluster of startups is watching the market evolve, polishing their software with the goal of releasing them into a more mature VR market down the line.”

How the E-Tail Evolution is Playing Out in Seattle

Puget Sound Business Journal | Coral Garnick | April 11

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2016/04/how-the-e-tail-evolution-is-playing-out-in-seattle.html

“All eyes are once again on Seattle as retailers try to find the right mix between online sales and a physical presence. When Seattle-based Amazon.com first came online, its battle for market share with traditional bookstores played out here with many brick-and-mortar establishments shuttering…Going from clicks to bricks, as some have called it, is a trend happening around the country. At the same time, however, traditional retailers are also figuring out the balance between digital and in-store shopping.”

Seattle Sees Biggest Jump in Bus Riders of Any U.S. City

Seattle Times | Gene Balk | April 11

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/seattle-sees-biggest-jump-in-bus-riders-of-any-us-city/

“Between 2010 and 2014, Seattle experienced the biggest jump in bus ridership of any major U.S. city, according to my analysis of census data…With that surge in ridership, Seattle now ranks as the second most bus-reliant major U.S. city, after San Francisco. It’s how one out of five of us — that’s 78,000 Seattleites — get to our jobs. This doesn’t even count the 3,000 folks getting to work by other forms of mass transit — light rail or trolley or ferry.”

For Some Top Nonprofits, Changing the World Begins in Seattle

New York Times | Kirk Johnson | April 8

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/09/us/bill-gates-foundation-charity.html

“A study sponsored last year by the Washington Global Health Alliance said that global health — a mix of research, logistics, and manufacturing — now accounts for more than 12,000 jobs in Washington state and nearly $6 billion in economic activity. And from 2009 to 2013, the recession barely made a dent, the report said, as the number of jobs in that category grew almost four times faster than in the state as a whole…In addition, there are growing networks of second-generation, nonprofit leaders who were schooled at the Gates Foundation or Allen Institute, and have now filtered out to form a kind of self-reinforcing army. Seattle is first in the nation in private foundation revenue per capita, according to the Urban Institute, with two and a half times the amount of the No. 2 city, San Francisco, where philanthropic technology wealth has also soared.”

Why BMW Made Seattle its U.S. Car-Sharing Headquarters and Launch City

Puget Sound Business Journal | Rachel Nielsen | April 8

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2016/04/why-bmw-made-seattle-its-u-s-car-sharing.html

“When BMW rolled out its ReachNow car sharing service on Friday, it was the culmination of two years of courting Seattle’s city government and businesses…Seattle will be the North American headquarters of the program, which plans to roll out ReachNow to three other North American cities this year. In addition to the good government and business relations, there were other reasons BMW made Seattle the first city with ReachNow service. The city “already has a good mix of shared mobility options,” said Sandra Phillips, ReachNow’s chief customer officer.”