San Francisco's luxury bus puts your commute to shame

A luxury-bus startup called Leap Transit relaunched in San Francisco last week, carting passengers from the wealthy Marina district to downtown. It's the latest company to offer a high-end alternative to public transit.

In just a week, Leap has drawn attention for its almost clichéd list of San Francisco amenities.

The five buses are decked out in creamy leather, blue LED lights and reclaimed wood. There's wifi on board (obviously) and outlets for your mobile devices. You can order food and drinks through the Leap app, which also lets you track and board the buses and see who the other riders are. There's iced coffee (Blue Bottle of course), small-batch yogurt, a box of purified water and some $7 raw organic juices.

An attendant on a Leap Transit luxury bus in San Francisco makes sure passengers are taken care of and serves refreshments.

Each bus has a cheery attendant who mans the QR code scanner when people board, makes sure the temperature is just right, hands out refreshments, and chooses music to play over the Beats Bluetooth speaker.

The 25-seat buses only run during peak hours, heading downtown from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and back to the Marina from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., a 30-minute route that makes four stops at each end.

Elizabeth Rice, who rode the bus Friday morning, was cautious about getting too attached to yet another transit startup. She used to take Loup, which used black cars to pick up multiple passengers along a set route, before it shut down. Similar startups still in business include Chariot and RidePal.

Elizabeth Rice and Peter Roessler check their smartphones while riding the new Leap Transportation bus to work in San Francisco.

The posh shuttles could be an easy target for outrage in San Francisco, where public buses cost $2.25. Protesters have targeted private shuttles for Google (GOOG) and Facebook (FB, Tech30) employees as symbols of the influx of wealthy tech workers and the Bay Area's skyrocketing cost of living.

But the new shuttle isn't necessarily bad, according to Susan Shaheen, co-director of UC Berkeley's Transportation Sustainability Research Center. Private options have the potential to reduce traffic and lesson strain on overcrowded public bus lines.

They also need to work with existing public transit. One major criticism has been that many of these shuttles use public bus stops, literally disrupting people's rush-hour commutes.

Leap made that mistake when it first launched in 2013 with $2 million from Andreessen Horowitz. The startup quietly discontinued service after four months.

Kyle Kirchhoff, Leap's 30-year-old CEO and cofounder, says the early run was a beta test to "see what would happen," and that the company has worked with San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (Muni) for the past year to design its current route, which only stops at white loading zones.

Leap's new luxury buses are painted bright blue and go from the Marina to downtown San Francisco.

Instead of focusing on the luxury shuttles, private cars and tech buses, advocates should push to improve public transit, says Gabriel Metcalf, the CEO of SPUR, a nonprofit urban policy organization. To retain the wealthier customers who can afford their own car or a service like Leap, Muni has to improve and speed up its service.

"Otherwise the fear is it becomes like public housing, meaning a mobility provider for people with no other option," said Metcalf. "And that just cannot work. We cannot let that happen."

CNNMoney (San Francisco) March 23, 2015: 5:19 PM ET

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Instagram adds app just for collages

A new app from Instagram called Layout lets you make collages of photos.

Instagram is changing that today with a brand new app called Layout. The free app, available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone, lets you make mini-collages of photos. It makes it possible to cram multiple cats, babies, sunsets and beach shots into a single Instagram-ready square image.

The very basic app lets you choose up to nine images. You pick one of the arrangements and from there you can resize or flip each photo. There's also an option to take a series of photos directly in the app, like a photo booth. After you're done tweaking a creation, just open it in Instagram to add filters or make other adjustments.

Instead of including the new features in the existing Instagram app, the company has spun them off into a completely separate one. Facebook (FB, Tech30), which owns Instagram, has been pushing to get more individual apps on people's phones. It spun off Messanger last year, and Instagram previously released a standalone app for timelapse movies called Hyperlapse.

The idea for the app isn't original. There are multiple collage apps for iOS and Android that people have been using for years. But the fact that it integrates directly with Instagram just might appeal to devoted users and enthusiastic pet owners.

CNNMoney (San Francisco) March 23, 2015: 6:17 PM ET

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Rolling Stone to publish review of campus rape article April 8

A spokesperson for the Columbia School of Journalism, which is investigating how Rolling Stone reported the rape accusation, said Monday its review would be released April. 8. Columbia made the announcement shortly after police in Charlottesville, Virginia, detailed their own findings from an investigation into the alleged rape.
At a Monday press conference, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo said the police found no "substantive basis" to support the premise of the article that appeared in Rolling Stone last fall. Longo cautioned that the findings do not necessarily mean that "something terrible didn't happen" to the woman at the center of the story.

A police official said the author of the Rolling Stone story, Sabrina Rubin Erdely, was "cooperative" and "provided us with some information."

The article, "A Rape on Campus," horrified readers when it was published last November. It described how a University of Virginia freshman named Jackie was allegedly sexually assaulted by seven attackers during a party at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house, and how the university failed to adequately respond.

Following Monday's press conference with Charlottesville police, Phi Kappa Psi issued a statement blasting Rolling Stone for "recklessly and prejudicially" thrusting the fraternity "into the center of a national debate on the topic of sexual assault on college campuses." The fraternity also hinted at a possible lawsuit aimed at the magazine.

"Phi Kappa Psi is now exploring its legal options to address the extensive damage caused by Rolling Stone -- damage both to the chapter and its members and to the very cause upon which the magazine was focused," the statement said.

Rolling Stone's article sparked conversation about sexual violence on college campuses, but the details of the story soon came under withering scrutiny.

As contradictions and discrepancies emerged, Rolling Stone apologized and said it would investigate what went wrong. On December 22, it enlisted Columbia University's graduate journalism school to conduct an independent review.

At the time, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner said Columbia would have free rein to review the magazine's "editorial processes." The actions of the writer, the editors; and the fact-checkers have all been questioned by critics.

Journalism school dean Steve Coll has been leading the review.

Wenner told CNNMoney that the magazine would publish Columbia's review. When asked whether he will be making any editorial changes at the magazine as a result of Columbia's review, Wenner said, "Haven't read it so I have no comments to make."

Related: Rolling Stone's Hits and Misses

Related: Columbia to Review Rolling Stone missteps

CNNMoney (New York) March 23, 2015: 6:07 PM ET

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Rolling Stone to publish review of campus rape article soon

The article, "A Rape on Campus," horrified readers when it was published last November. It described how a University of Virginia freshman named Jackie was sexually assaulted by seven attackers during a frat party, and how the university failed to adequately respond.

The article sparked conversation about sexual violence on college campuses, but the details of the story soon came under withering scrutiny.

As contradictions and discrepancies emerged, Rolling Stone apologized and said it would investigate what went wrong. On December 22, it enlisted Columbia University's graduate journalism school to conduct an independent review.

At the time, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner said Columbia would have free rein to review the magazine's "editorial processes." The actions of the writer, Sabrina Rubin Erdely; the editors; and the fact-checkers have all been questioned by critics.

Journalism school dean Steve Coll has been leading the review, and there has been ample speculation about what it has found.

Although its details are not known, a source with knowledge of the review said Saturday it will be released in early April.

Wenner subsequently confirmed the timing in an email message.

"Expecting it in about two weeks and will publishing shortly thereafter in full," he said.

When asked whether he will be making any editorial changes at the magazine as a result of Columbia's review, Wenner said, "Haven't read it so I have no comments to make."

A spokeswoman for the magazine said Sunday that the review will be published in the print magazine. A spokeswoman for the journalism school had previously hinted at this, saying "we are coordinating production schedules with Rolling Stone."

Separately, local police in Virginia are expected to hold a press conference on Monday releasing the results of an investigation into the alleged rape.

CNN reported last month that Charlottesville police "informed the university at the start of the spring semester that its investigation has found no evidence that the brutal gang rape happened at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, as the Rolling Stone story alleged. However, the police have not ruled out that Jackie was raped -- possibly even gang raped, somewhere else, perhaps on a different day."

CNNMoney (New York) March 22, 2015: 11:54 AM ET

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The best performing investment under Obama is...

But it's still useful -- and fun -- to see how investments perform over different time horizons.

Take President Obama's time in office. It's been just over six years since Obama was sworn in during the midst of the Great Recession.

Back then, stocks were tanking. Frankly, most investors were scared to touch just about any asset, although there was some bounce in safe havens like gold and silver.

So which assets have performed the best so far in Obama's tenure?

Related: U.S. companies hoard record amount of cash

Best investment: Your gut inclination might be to say gold, commodities or even the U.S. dollar.

But stocks are the clear winner so far under President Obama.

The only other assets class that comes close is real estate investment trusts (REITs), which trade like stocks but are companies that hold office buildings, malls and other properties and make money off the rents.

The stock market bottomed out in March 2009 and has been on an upswing ever since. In fact, we are in the midst of the fourth-longest bull market in U.S. history (and it could become the third longest if we make it to May).

What's ahead? The question is whether this stock surge can continue. The market is once again within striking distance of setting new records.

"We are advising our clients to continue to stay invested in equities," says Tracie McMillion, asset allocation strategist for Wells Fargo (WFC). "We think that because of the significant downturn that we experienced in 2008 and 2009, this particular bull market could have a longer run than average."

While there's debate today over whether the stock market is getting too expensive, experts almost all agree that stocks are likely to give investors the best return over the next decade.

Related: What an interest rate increase means for real people

Wells Fargo puts it this way: expect stocks to return 9% to 12% (not adjusted for inflation) a year, on average, over the next decade or so while bonds are forecast to return only 3% to 4%.

Experts say it's typically best to stay invested, but it might be a good time to rebalance since stocks have done so well.

As for REITs, this might be a good time to reassess. The phenomenal rise of REITs since Obama took office is largely due to the effects of the financial crisis.

The fallout of so many bad mortgages caused real estate assets to sink dramatically in value. Since then, the property market has roared back, especially for retail spaces and office buildings.

That said, as the Federal Reserve signals it plans to raise interest rates, the property market may start to look less attractive. Mortgages will become more expensive, and investors will have more options for yield.

Related: Play CNNMoney's Stock Market Madness

Obama versus other presidents: So how does Obama's tenure compare with other presidents vis a vis the stock market?

The returns for the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq haven't been anywhere near this good since the days of President Reagan.

While many think of the dot-com stock surge under President Clinton, most of the wild returns happened in the last part of his tenure during 1999-2000. Six years into Clinton's time in the White House, stocks were up, but not off the charts.

Related: Nasdaq near all-time high. Is it another bubble?

Interestingly, six years into President George W. Bush's presidency, silver and gold were actually the best performing asset followed closely by REITs and oil.

While the stock market has typically performed better under Democratic presidents, the reality is the commander in chief has limited influence on the market.

"For most presidents, it's more about either good or bad luck in terms of how they show up in the financial markets," says Bill Stone, chief investment strategists for PNC Wealth Management.

"Certainly [Obama] taking over after a horrendous market environment helped. It would be true of anyone after that. The market has always come back," notes Stone.

As investors know, it's hard to know when markets will be up or down, but history continues to show that stocks do best over the long-term.

Related: Apple stock is making regular Americans rich

CNNMoney (New York) March 22, 2015: 6:21 PM ET

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4 ways Asian dating apps are anti-Tinder

At first sight, these apps may look a lot like Tinder, the U.S.-based app that lets users anonymously approve or reject matches with a simple swipe.

But the similarities stop there for Tinder's homegrown Asian rivals.

The entrepreneurs behind these apps say dating in Asia is different -- swapping numbers at a bar or hooking up just isn't common. These apps aim to create a friendly, safe community for users to meet other interesting folk.

"Tinder is bright red, whereas we take toned down colors like blue, purple, green -- it calms," said Joseph Phua, founder of Singapore-based dating app Paktor. "When you're using the app, you don't feel like it's something that's leaning towards hookups -- it's a way to meet new people."

Here's a look at what sets Asia's dating apps apart:

Related: 10 alternatives to Tinder

Get a third wheel

Wish you had a wing man? Need a buddy in case you want to bail on a bad date?

Philippines app Peekawoo will find you a chaperone, or organize a group date. (Supervised dating isn't unusual in this mainly Roman Catholic country.)

Having a chaperone adds security when meeting for the first time, said founder and CEO Valenice Balace, who has acted as a chaperone. And group dating "keeps the conversation light," she said.

Peekawoo's group dates can include up to six people, and they'll even host larger events with "an in-house wing man and wing woman," whose sole responsibility is to help break the ice.

In the Philippines, people "tend to look for someone to talk to, maybe have a direct connection with, but not really boyfriend-girlfriend right away, because people here [take things] really slow," Balace said.

Related: You'll never believe these dating services

No adultery allowed

Looking for a mistress? Forget about it!

"We do not let married men on the app," said Woo co-founder Sumesh Menon. Launched just last year, the app has nearly 1 million users in India.

Woo users must have Facebook (FB, Tech30) to sign up. That's standard for dating apps around the world, but Woo goes further by cross-referencing social media accounts to make sure users represent themselves accurately. The app rejects roughly 30% of sign-ups a day.

For example, Woo will check a user's marital status and look at professional LinkedIn profiles, which Menon says are much less likely to contain false information. There's even a feature that lets users report people who they know are married, he said.

In a country where parents often still vet spouses -- 90% of marriages in India are arranged, according to UNICEF -- this particular feature builds confidence among users that the people they're meeting are indeed genuine.

Paktor, the Singapore-based app, also screens users for fake accounts, and requires you to have at least 50 friends on Facebook to sign up.

Related: Doggie dates have come to Tinder!

Cross-border love

Paktor lets users adjust their preferences to meet people across the region. "If I'm sitting in Singapore, I can actually match with someone in Taiwan," said Phua. (He used his own app to meet his Taiwanese fiancee.)

The app translates messages so users can chat to people who speak another language. Roughly 25% of Paktor's matches are between singles across borders.

Paktor even matches groups of up to eight people who have common interests. The idea is that users will bond over shared experiences, before moving in a romantic direction. "We're trying to take cues from successes in real life and try to put that in the app," Phua said.

Self help guides

Not sure what your best selfie angle is? Or don't even know how to download the app and too embarrassed to ask for help? Peekawoo offers tips on its blog and organizes get-togethers for single gals.

"People have tons of questions," Balace said, about online dating, how to use Peekawoo and more.

Peekawoo even organizes events for singles under 30 to help build a friendly offline community and pave the way for online interaction.

Related: I have a fiance, a girlfriend and two boyfriends

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) March 22, 2015: 9:29 PM ET

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Millennials: More educated, fewer employed than Gen X

Today's young adults are on track to becoming the most educated generation to date, according to new data from the Pew Research Center.

More Millennial women, in particular, are securing their diplomas than their older sisters, mothers and grandmothers.

They also outnumber their male peers when it comes to getting college degrees.

But those degrees aren't helping them get jobs. Thanks to the Great Recession, Millennials are less likely to be employed than Gen Xers.

Millennial men were hit particularly hard. Not only do they trail Gen Xers in employment, but fewer are employed now than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation (who are now mainly in their 70s and 80s) were at the same age.

Instead, Millennial men are more likely to be out of the labor force, either in school or not looking for a job.

Millennial women lost ground in terms of employment when compared to Gen Xers. But they are still more likely to work than Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation, when it was more common for women to stay home and raise children.

Related: Millennials closing the gap in pay disparity between men and women

Related: Millennials say no to marriage

Related: Enough with Millennials. Here's what Gen X thinks

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:35 PM ET

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Employers aren't really cutting health benefits

Under Obamacare rules that kicked in this year, large employers have to offer health benefits to workers who put in 30 or more hours a week or face penalties. Some fretted that the new rules would cost employers a bundle or prompt them to cut workers' hours to get under the cap.

But a new study found that so far there's little cause for concern: Average enrollment in company plans was essentially unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 74% of all workers.

The survey of nearly 600 employers by benefits consultant Mercer found that in 2015

Related: Obamacare is finally hitting employers

The average percentage of employees who were eligible for coverage increased 1 percentage point to 88%, while enrollment of eligible workers dropped 1 percentage point on average, to 83 percent.

Part of the explanation for the stable results stems from the fact that most employers were already in compliance, says Beth Umland, Mercer's director of research for health and benefits.

In 2014, employees had to work 25 hours a week on average to be offered health insurance, according to Mercer. That figure has edged up since 2011, when it was 23 hours weekly, but is still well below the law's 30-hour threshold.

Still, while the expansion in eligibility wasn't a big change for many employers, "if you were impacted, you were really impacted," says Tracy Watts, Mercer's national leader for health care reform.

Food and lodging companies were most affected by the new rules, with the average percentage of workers who were eligible for coverage increasing to 60% from 57%.

Other industry sectors that felt the change included health care, where per diem nurses and other professionals take on short-term assignments, and higher education, which employs many part-time adjunct professors, says Watts.

Related: Obamacare's second round attracts more Americans

But most employers aren't changing their practices to discourage health plan enrollment, the survey found. Some 73% said they had no plans to change, while 16% said they made sure newly hired part-timers work fewer than 30 hours weekly. Some 19% said they reduced the hours of employees who consistently or occasionally worked more than 30 hours a week.

Even though the health law aims to encourage employers to offer coverage by imposing fines on those who don't do so, not all of their employees take advantage of the offer.

Workers might not sign up because they have other options under the health law. Low-income workers may be eligible for Medicaid in states that have expanded coverage. Young adults can stay on their parents' plan until they turn 26 under the health law, and many people continue to get coverage through their spouses.

Related: Wal-Mart cuts health benefits for 30,000 part-timers

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:27 PM ET

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The $10 bill is up next for a new look

While one advocacy group is calling on the government to replace President Jackson with a woman on the $20 bill, it's actually the $10 note that's up next for a redesign.

A new $10 bill is on track to enter circulation in 2020, a Treasury Department spokeswoman said Friday.

It will be the first to have a raised "tactile feature," making it easier for people who are blind to identify the cash, according to a Treasury Department document outlining redesign plans from 2013. The spokeswoman confirmed that the information in the report still stands.

Related: Jack Lew: Higher minimum wage = stronger economy

She would not comment on whether or not the redesign would include a new portrait of Hamilton or anyone else for that matter.

Some changes to the bill are aimed at making it harder for crooks to make counterfeit money. All bills are changed every so often for this reason, and security threats largely drive the schedule for redesigns.

One reason the $10 bill was selected as the first to get the raised feature is because it is frequently used and has a low production volume, allowing for a smooth transition, the report says.

The advocacy group, Women on 20s, is petitioning the president and Congress to put a woman on the $20 bill. It has a list of 15 candidates to replace Jackson and people can cast a vote for their favorite on its web site.

Additional reporting by Antoine Sanfuentes.

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 7:50 PM ET

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Employers aren't really cutting health benefits

Under Obamacare rules that kicked in this year, large employers have to offer health benefits to workers who put in 30 or more hours a week or face penalties. Some fretted that the new rules would cost employers a bundle or prompt them to cut workers' hours to get under the cap.

But a new study found that so far there's little cause for concern: Average enrollment in company plans was essentially unchanged between 2014 and 2015 at 74% of all workers.

The survey of nearly 600 employers by benefits consultant Mercer found that in 2015

Related: Obamacare is finally hitting employers

The average percentage of employees who were eligible for coverage increased 1 percentage point to 88%, while enrollment of eligible workers dropped 1 percentage point on average, to 83 percent.

Part of the explanation for the stable results stems from the fact that most employers were already in compliance, says Beth Umland, Mercer's director of research for health and benefits.

In 2014, employees had to work 25 hours a week on average to be offered health insurance, according to Mercer. That figure has edged up since 2011, when it was 23 hours weekly, but is still well below the law's 30-hour threshold.

Still, while the expansion in eligibility wasn't a big change for many employers, "if you were impacted, you were really impacted," says Tracy Watts, Mercer's national leader for health care reform.

Food and lodging companies were most affected by the new rules, with the average percentage of workers who were eligible for coverage increasing to 60% from 57%.

Other industry sectors that felt the change included health care, where per diem nurses and other professionals take on short-term assignments, and higher education, which employs many part-time adjunct professors, says Watts.

Related: Obamacare's second round attracts more Americans

But most employers aren't changing their practices to discourage health plan enrollment, the survey found. Some 73% said they had no plans to change, while 16% said they made sure newly hired part-timers work fewer than 30 hours weekly. Some 19% said they reduced the hours of employees who consistently or occasionally worked more than 30 hours a week.

Even though the health law aims to encourage employers to offer coverage by imposing fines on those who don't do so, not all of their employees take advantage of the offer.

Workers might not sign up because they have other options under the health law. Low-income workers may be eligible for Medicaid in states that have expanded coverage. Young adults can stay on their parents' plan until they turn 26 under the health law, and many people continue to get coverage through their spouses.

Related: Wal-Mart cuts health benefits for 30,000 part-timers

CNNMoney (New York) March 20, 2015: 3:27 PM ET

10.20 | 0 komentar | Read More