Uber’s joyride: In cruise control
From 3 people 3 years ago, we now have 30 in our Dubai HQ and over 3,000 drivers across UAE
Ride-hailing company Uber has every reason to celebrate its success across the globe, including in the UAE. Not only has it completed three successful years of operations in the country, it is looking forward to further expand its presence in the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as introduce new services, such as the recently launched UberEATS in Dubai.
Along with a redesigned Uber app, the company also recently launched the popular “Scheduled Rides” feature in the UAE, allowing riders to schedule a car anytime from 15 minutes to 30 days in advance of their journey.
The $68 billion San Francisco-based American company, which made its foray into the UAE in September 2013 by introducing its service in Dubai, has recorded exponential growth in the region and expanded to 14 cities in nine Mena countries.
“When comparing the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, we had 500 per cent plus rider growth and 400 per cent plus driver growth across the Mena region,” Chris Free, general manager, Uber UAE, told Khaleej Times.
Leading app
The tech company considers that its current services will help the UAE successfully manage the spikes in demand, relieve pressure on parking throughout the city and reduce congestion where possible.
The company also believes that by matching its powerful network with the city’s growing infrastructure, Dubai will be able to provide a safe, seamless and transparent experience for businesses and tourists — including reducing congestion, efficient airport drop offs and pick-ups for visitors.
In first two years of operations in Dubai, the ride-sharing company noted that nearly 50 per cent of its riders in the city were visitors and tourists. The Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates and DIFC Gate Village were among popular pickup locations and destinations while Downtown Dubai remained the busiest intra-neighbourhood route.
“We launched in the UAE three years ago as a team of three people and now we have over 30 people working from our headquarters in Dubai,” said Free.
“We currently have more than 3,000 active drivers based here. We are doing hundreds of thousands of trips in the UAE alone and quickly growing — and we are confident we are the leading app in the region,” he added.
Uber, which was founded by tech entrepreneurs Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick in March 2009, considers the Mena as one of its fastest-growing regions. It has committed to investing $250 million in the region, creating tens of thousands of jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Saudi Arabia is its leading market in Mena as the service is available in four Saudi cities, including Riyadh, Jeddah, the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah, and the Eastern Province of the kingdom. In addition, Uber rides are available in Alexandria and Cairo in Egypt, Manama (Bahrain), Doha (Qatar), Amman (Jordan), Beirut (Lebanon) and Casablanca (Morocco), amongst others.
“As far as expansion is concerned, we recently received the biggest single private investment ever by the Saudi Arabia Private Investment Fund. As well as this, last October, $250 million was invested in the Mena region to grow the team, driver network and continue developing and adapting our technology — for example, ‘telematics’ which monitors for safer driver behaviour. We have rolled out technology features across Mena in order to monitor safer driving behaviour,” said Free. “We also adapt to the local market infrastructure.”
“Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been extremely progressive in the regulatory conversations, exploring ways to integrate Uber technology into the transport ecosystem so that drivers continue to benefit from the economic opportunity it provides. In the UAE, we operate differently in that there are no independent drivers and we need to operate at 30 per cent above RTA taxi prices, per regulations. Drivers are still benefitting in that they do more trips, and this in turn generates more income for them,” said Free.
Driverless cars
Uber, which is going to offer driverless car services in Pittsburgh in the United States, is still not sure when it will be able to introduce driverless automotive service in the region. “Uber UAE isn’t able to provide commentary on driverless cars. We are unable to provide a timeframe for Dubai at this stage,” Free said.
Sharing some updates from the global Uber headquarters, he said Uber is now testing self-driving cars with Uber riders in Pittsburgh.
“Uber is partnering with Volvo to pair Uber’s self-driving software with Volvo’s vehicles and safety technology. It has also acquired Otto, the self-driving trucking startup founded by Anthony Levandowski, formerly the technical lead for Google’s self-driving project,” Free said.
In addition to driverless cars service, Uber fans are still awaiting the company’s other popular services, like UberPOOL. The service is already available in the 33 biggest cities across the globe.
According to the company, during the first seven months of 2016 the service has saved 502 million kilometres in car journeys and more than 23 million litres of fuel, sparing cities of some 55,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
— muzaffarrizvi@khaleejtimes.com