Moving Forward Together with Cities
Written byThrough our technology and innovation, Uber has begun to change the way cities move. We share many of the same goals as the 600 cities we serve, and are committed to addressing the same challenges: reducing individual car ownership, expanding transportation access and helping governments plan future transportation investments.
Since I started as CEO I’ve signaled very clearly that I am committed to being true partners to cities for the long term. This partnership will take many forms over time. As a start, today we’re excited to share a series of product updates that give riders more ways to get around without needing a car, and new ways we’re collaborating with cities.
Beyond Ridesharing
Having a greater variety of transportation modes at your fingertips helps make it increasingly easy to live without a car. That’s why we want to provide alternatives to personal car ownership by bringing together multiple modes of transportation right in our app. As part of this new direction for Uber, we’re announcing three updates:
Uber Bike by JUMP Expansion: Starting today, we’re expanding Uber Bike by JUMP to Washington, DC. First piloted in San Francisco earlier this year, Uber users in DC can now find and book a JUMP pedal-assist electric bike directly from the Uber app. We’re particularly excited about JUMP Bikes because they can provide a convenient and environmentally friendly ride that’s often faster, especially in dense cities where space is limited and roads can be congested.
Uber Rent Powered by Getaround: Later this month in San Francisco, we’re launching Uber Rent powered by Getaround. Cars are shared by people throughout the city and equipped with Getaround’s technology for instant access. With cars available instantly for rent in the Uber app, fewer people will need to store them in garages for those sporadic grocery store runs, daytime adventures, or weekend getaways.
Partnership with Masabi: We’ve inked a partnership with Masabi, the global leader in public transit mobile ticketing, to let Uber customers book and use transit tickets in our app. For many people, getting around their city is already a multimodal affair, and this partnership will let riders seamlessly combine public transit with other transportation options like ridesharing, no matter where they need to go.
Data Sharing
While having multiple transit options in one app can be powerful for our customers, we know that alone is not enough to improve the cities we operate in. We recognize we also need to give value back to the public agencies that govern these cities by using our technology and insights. That’s why we’re excited to share two new updates:
SharedStreets Pilot: Successful collaboration with cities depends on open, non-proprietary data standards and replicable models for sharing insights. To this end we’re working with the DC Departments of Transportation and For Hire Vehicles and SharedStreets to create new methods for public-private collaboration and data sharing that respect the need for rider and driver privacy as well as the competitive landscape of the industry. We’re starting with a pilot in DC to share data on curb usage across all modes of transportation. Better understanding curb utilization can help cities around the world prepare for a future where more and more of us are accessing transportation through a combination of shared modes, rather than relying on our own vehicles. We’re looking forward to building on what we learn from working with DC to support data partnerships in other cities using SharedStreets data standards.
Movement Expansion: Uber Movement will be available to 12 new cities across five continents: Amsterdam, Bangalore, Brisbane, Cairo, Hyderabad, Melbourne, Mumbai, Nairobi, New Delhi, Perth, Pittsburgh, and Toronto. Introduced last year, Movement is a website that offers anonymized and aggregated Uber data to show travel conditions across different times, days or months, and how travel times are impacted by things like big events and road closures in a city. Movement can help urban planners, local leaders, and civic communities make informed decisions for our cities.
As we think about where we want our cities to be in the future, we know we can do more, and we will. Technology and data alone are not solutions for urban problems—but when done right, and in partnership with others, they have the potential to contribute to a better world for all. We’re excited to move forward with cities.