Uber ‘Transit’ feature is added to the app to show users public transport options for their journey as well as offering its traditional ride-sharing service
Trials of Uber Transit have started in Denver and will spread across the US. Other cities around the world will also get the feature over the next year.
The App now shows rail and bus routes, times and fares as well as ride-sharing
It offers users the chance to see fares and end-to-end directions via a variety of transport methods.
The company plans to roll out Transit across the US and other cities around the world over the course of the next year. As yet there is no word on which cities or countries these include.
This is the latest step from Uber in its goal of becoming a one-stop shop for transportation around the world.
On it’s website, Uber said, ‘Many times, it can be faster and cheaper to take public transportation than any other form of travel, and we want to give our riders a seamless way to access that option right from our app.’
This is the ride hailing app’s first partnership with a public transportation service as it works with Denver’s Regional Transportation District (RTD).
‘This is a big shift for Uber,’ the company’s head of transit, David Reich told USA Today.
‘Riders can see how much walking is involved, how many transfers … what are the next few buses that are going to come up, or trains, and then even follow themselves on the map to sort of see their progression towards their final destination.’
When the app is opened and a destination set, a new ‘Transit’ icon, which is a picture of a train, will appear.
Tapping on Uber's Transit feature will allow users to find bus and train routes to their destinations as well as their ride-sharing option.
This will then provide the user with familiar options such as Pool and UberX as well as showing possible train and bus routes as well as walking distances to and from the stations and destination.
Users can see how far they need to walk, how many transfers each route requires, when the train or bus leaves and how often.
Users can see how far they need to walk, how many transfers each route requires, when the train or bus leaves and how often
Users will also soon be able to purchase and use local transport tickets through the app, Uber claims. In cities with trams, ferries subway trains and other forms of public transport, these will all be added to the app as well, Uber says.
‘If there is a cheaper, better way to get you to where you want to go, we want to make that easy for our riders to find and use inside the app.’
Are ride-hailing apps spying on your private data?
A complaint was filed on an anonymous workplace chat app, Blind, that alleged staffers are spying on customer data. Both Uber and Lyft have been called into question over whether their staffers spy on customer information like trip data.
The employees may have been looking at trip information for Mark Zuckerberg, ex-girlfriends, porn stars and high-profile actresses. In the post, the anonymous tipster said they’ve witnessed staffers spying on customer data ‘for far too long’.
‘I can’t stand to watch this any longer and this post is made in the hope that this will shame people into taking corrective action,’ the post said.
A screenshot of Uber's 'God view' tool that it used to spy on drivers and riders.
Lyft said it will investigate the claims as it looks to preserve consumer trust while Uber has also come under fire for surveilling user data.
In 2014, it was discovered that Uber used a secretive tool called ‘God view’ ‘God view’ would let employees spy on customer data from politicians, ex-girlfriends and celebrities
Uber must now comply with privacy audits for the next 19 years.