Revolutionizing the rider experience: insights from Uber’s Global Head of Transit Partnerships

At CoMotion Miami ’24, a premier event for global urban mobility thought leaders, our Global Head of Transit Partnerships, Dmitriy Vanguchov, chatted about accessibility, innovation, and the rider experience with key leaders from CTDOT, MTA Madrid, New York City MTA, and Transit Alliance Miami. 

In his Uber Transit role, Vanguchov works closely with agencies and municipalities worldwide to incorporate the Uber platform into their mobility systems. The Uber Transit team has fostered partnerships with 80+ public agencies to help address their goals, ranging from complementing paratransit and microtransit operations to tackling first-mile/last-mile challenges. 

On the CoMotion main stage, Vanguchov delved into innovations leading to improving the rider experience. Below are highlights from his remarks. You can access the complete panel discussion here.

“When you look around the world and think about public transportation, what communities are clamoring for is more public mobility equity and easier access to that public mobility infrastructure … providing easier access to [riders] and making it easier to choose to ride public transit, rather than jumping in your car by yourself and driving to work.” 

“[Working] with paratransit riders in Washington, DC, to bring same-day paratransit options—that drives equity. Because today, paratransit riders have to reserve most of their trips 24 hours in advance, and that’s not really equitable for those of us who have to hop on a train or bus anytime we want to go somewhere.… Increasing equity and access with creative mobility platforms, that’s a common theme.” 

“A lot of people work that third shift and can take the bus to work but end up driving instead, because when they get off work, the bus system may not be running. Agencies like PSTA, north of [Miami] in Pinellas County, have been running a late-night program for almost a decade now with TNCs and taxis, which is incredible. By working with taxis and TNCs—nondedicated providers—PSTA is able to keep people out of their cars, on the bus, and [offer safer rides]  at night for less than a tenth of the cost.”

“One of the first questions cities or transit agencies ask us when [Uber Transit] partners with them is ‘Can we work with folks that can’t use the Uber app?’ That’s something we’ve worked really hard at. [We] took cues from public transit operators and from cities…we’ve rolled out a [toll-free] number that you can now call [to request] an Uber ride. It’s called Call to Ride. When we work with transit agencies, we give them technology that allows them to [request] rides on behalf of passengers who may not be comfortable using the app…. We take a lot of direction from the public entities we work with to make sure we’re offering a product that works for everybody.”

“Transit agencies are starting to embrace the idea that they’re mobility managers in their community, rather than bus and train operators.… Maybe [a rider] lives in a neighborhood that’s a bit of a transit desert and they don’t have access to traditional resources. How do you subsidize transportation that maybe you don’t operate, that’s incredibly cost-effective, and accessible for the rider to get them to that infrastructure you so heavily invested in? That’s a big part of how Uber Transit operates. We work with cities and public transit agencies to find those unique use cases—to make sure that folks that can’t be reached by the traditional modes can still be internalized into the system.” 

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