Uber’s impact on city transport

In the modern era, there are countless ways to get from A to B. You can walk, take the bike, take the car, get on the bus or train and, of course, Uber has been a tried-and-tested option for quite some time now. Mixing-and-matching transport choices has never been as easy or popular, and riders will know that Uber is a part of this picture. But then, what is Uber’s role in that picture? Let’s take a look at how Uber is changing how we think about transport in the Netherlands and cities more generally.

Uber and public transport: a perfect match
The Netherlands has an extremely dense public transport network – you can get almost anywhere by tram, train or bus. It’s only the last kilometers to the final destination that are often a stumbling block, which is why many people turn to Uber or other transport solutions to get to where they need to be. Uber has always been used as a complement to other travel services, whether it’s going that extra mile or taking a late ride home when other options aren’t as available. That’s why we’re working together with transport companies and other transport apps to try and bridge the gap as efficiently as possible. With a combination of bike and car sharing services as well as public transport, whether that includes Uber transport services such as UberBikes in the future, we can ensure better mobility for all riders and travellers, all hours of the day.

Cooperation with cities and city council
Uber’s use has always been centred around transportation in cities, so it only made sense for us to work directly with those cities. With the Uber Movement project, city administrators and planners have access to anonymized travel data from millions of rides in Uber cities. With this data, future decisions about city development can be based on a better understanding of how modern transport works. What happens to traffic, for example, when a street is closed? How busy is it at a certain time in a certain place? How do traffic flows change during events? All this data, from Amsterdam to Los Angeles, is available to those cities and all others who want to make to use of it for a future of more convenient transport.

Together towards a better future
Through cooperation with public transport and municipalities, we aren’t just looking to improve traffic flow. We want to ensure cities remain liveable, open and exciting places for people to live. Less traffic jams and fewer parking problems for better transport is a state, but this in turn creates more living space that can be used for schools, businesses, parks and playgrounds for example. Uber’s goal can be summed up as putting “more people in fewer cars“, whether those cars are driven by an Uber-partner or autonomously, so that we dedicate more space and more time to the important things in life.