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Ride-hailing giant Uber launched a new feature last week that allows users in the Denver area to open the Uber app and see public transportation options, according to Engadget.
Known as Uber Transit, the feature displays the cost and estimated time to travel to an intended destination via public transit, alongside the same information for hailing a car. The feature will also eventually allow users to purchase train and bus tickets directly through the Uber app. The ride-hailing firm plans to roll out the feature gradually over the course of this year to all the cities it operates in.
Transit is a crucial element in Uber's strategy to become a one-stop consumer transportation shop. As we've identified in the past, Uber's long-term aim is to be a platform for consumers to find various different types of transportation options. To that end, the company purchased bike-sharing startup JUMP last April — which it subsequently integrated into its app — and also made electric scooters available within its app. Integrating with public transit is a logical next step in this approach, allowing users to find widely available transportation methods.
And more practically, Transit can help Uber accomplish two specific things:
- Collect valuable data on consumers' transit patterns regardless of whether they end up using its ride-hailing services. Even if a user opens the Uber app and ends up using it to buy a train or bus ticket, the company would still benefit from the data it would collect, for instance. The ride-hailing firm could piece together patterns on where and when consumers are opting for specific modes of transportation, and use the insights to better target certain discounts or promotions, for example. Ultimately, this data will give Uber a clearer data-based picture of its users by filling in some of the gaps previously created by those who opened and closed the app without hailing a ride.
- The company can turn around and share that data with city governments while also potentially directing more customers to public transit agencies. The data that Uber collects via Transit could be vital to cities. They'll be better informed on the flow of traffic, and how their residents prefer to get around depending on the time of day or their original location, which could help cities better manage transit systems. Uber could turn over such data sets to cities for goodwill, or sell it to them for a fee. At the same time, public transit agencies in the US are struggling with declining ridership, depressing revenues and hurting their ability to continually improve service and operations. Uber — which has more than 41 million users — making public transit available in its app could help facilitate greater use of buses and trains among those who would have otherwise opted to use ride-hailing. A user could open the app, see that an Uber ride is significantly longer or more expensive than public transit, and opt into public transit as a result, for example. That could help stem the bleeding of public transit ridership while also helping cities reduce congestion caused by ride-hailing firms, an issue for which the firm has faced plenty of recent blowback. Getting into good — or even just better — graces with city governments is likely a top goal for the company. Last year it was involved in a feud with the London transit agency due to its classification of drivers as private contractors, and just last week it was forced to shutter operations in Barcelona after protests from taxi drivers.
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