Uber Technologies Inc is aiming to become virtually a one-stop transportation shopping app, by adding new services, including car-sharing and train tickets the company confirmed on 11 April, according to media reports.
What are the plans?
Later this month in San Francisco, Uber is due to launch Uber Rent in collaboration with Getaround, a peer-to-peer car sharing service that offers privately owned cars for rent.
“We’re going beyond cars. We are about mobility – making mobility available to everyone, everywhere,”
Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said.
Uber also announced a partnership with Masabi, which offers mobile ticketing services for public transport, to let customers book and use tickets for train, bus and ferry services in the app.
Uber is vowing to work with U.S. cities, which Khosrowshahi noted will see a rising percentage of the country’s population.
He said the company backs a number of transportation solutions.
“That’s going to include bikes, and that’s going to include buses and subways, etc., and we want to be a part of the solution,”
he said, adding that Uber is sharing more data with cities to help them manage congestion.
The company is going to offer a number of transit options. The company also intends to solve the problem of too many cars being owned by people across the world.
Uber and its other deals
Recently, Uber decided to buy electric bicycle service JUMP Bikes based out of San Francisco. By turning their focus on electric bikes, Uber is following the footsteps of its rivals such as China’s Didi Chuxing. Uber has at times lagged rivals in certain markets because it has been limited to private car-hailing.
Last month, it decided to sell its Southeast Asian business to Grab, it’s regional rival. Uber is to take a 27.5% stake in Grab and Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is to join the Singapore-based firm’s board, as per the deal signed between the two companies.
In India, Softbank the Japanese multinational conglomerate has called for a merger between the Uber’s India Unit and homegrown Ola as a part of its planned amalgamation in Asia’s rapidly growing ride-hailing app market. According to those close to the talks which were facilitated by the largest investor Softbank in both the companies, have been going on for approximately a year.
Uber’s belief in the future of autonomous vehicles
The ride-sharing company strongly believes in the prospects for autonomous transport in spite of one of its self-driving vehicles being involved in a fatal crash in Arizona last month.
A 49-year-old woman was killed after being hit by an Uber self-driving sports utility vehicle while walking across a street in Phoenix, leading the company to suspend testing of autonomous vehicles.
The CEO still considers these vehicles as a part of the solution in the long-term to eliminate the problem of individual car ownership.
Also Read: Uber CEO Remarks That India Is One Of Its Healthiest Markets
