Uber turns SaaS vendor with deal that bakes public transport authority into its app
(2020/06/18)
- Reference: 1592465285
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/06/18/uber_saas_vendor/
- Source link:
If you need software to arrange on-demand transport, there’s a new vendor you might consider for your shopping list: Uber.
Yes, that Uber: the scofflaw taxi-value-destroyer, reformed [1]hive of wretched sexism , food-deliverer and believer that people who work for it [2]aren’t employees until courts say so .
The company’s new status as a vendor emerged today in [3]news [PDF] from the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM), the agency that runs public transport in Marin County, a local government area to the north of San Francisco.
TAM has baked a new ride share option into the Uber app for its residents, who will be offered the chance to find “accessible, on-demand, shared-ride opportunities”.
The service is designed “for those in Marin who have challenges with first/last mile connections or finding wheelchair equipped vehicles” and operates in areas pf 2.5 square miles around half a dozen Marin County train stations. Vehicles in the scheme are six-seaters driven by TAM staff.
Uber’s head of transit David Reich [4]described the deal as “our first ever Transit SaaS partnership”.
The deal sees TAM pay US480,000 Uber to consume its software as SaaS for a couple of years. Passengers’ fares all flow to TAM. But it only covers four vehicles.
Uber lost $8.5bn in 2019 but suggested it might finally find some back ink in 2020, a prediction made before a certain pandemic came along. With its cash pile far from infinite, finding customers for services like this is surely on Uber’s to-do list. ®
Sponsored: [5]The Forrester New Wave™: Public Cloud Enterprise Container Platforms, Q3 2019
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2017/02/20/reflections_on_one_very_very_strange_year_at_uber
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/05/uber_lyft_sued/
[3] https://2b0kd44aw6tb3js4ja3jprp6-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FINAL-Press-Release-TAM-MarinTransit-Uber-6.17.2020.pdf
[4] https://twitter.com/David_Reich/status/1273283783949643780
[5] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-8475/the-forrester-new-wave-public-cloud-enterprise-container-platforms-q3-2019?td=wptl1956
Yes, that Uber: the scofflaw taxi-value-destroyer, reformed [1]hive of wretched sexism , food-deliverer and believer that people who work for it [2]aren’t employees until courts say so .
The company’s new status as a vendor emerged today in [3]news [PDF] from the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM), the agency that runs public transport in Marin County, a local government area to the north of San Francisco.
TAM has baked a new ride share option into the Uber app for its residents, who will be offered the chance to find “accessible, on-demand, shared-ride opportunities”.
The service is designed “for those in Marin who have challenges with first/last mile connections or finding wheelchair equipped vehicles” and operates in areas pf 2.5 square miles around half a dozen Marin County train stations. Vehicles in the scheme are six-seaters driven by TAM staff.
Uber’s head of transit David Reich [4]described the deal as “our first ever Transit SaaS partnership”.
The deal sees TAM pay US480,000 Uber to consume its software as SaaS for a couple of years. Passengers’ fares all flow to TAM. But it only covers four vehicles.
Uber lost $8.5bn in 2019 but suggested it might finally find some back ink in 2020, a prediction made before a certain pandemic came along. With its cash pile far from infinite, finding customers for services like this is surely on Uber’s to-do list. ®
Sponsored: [5]The Forrester New Wave™: Public Cloud Enterprise Container Platforms, Q3 2019
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2017/02/20/reflections_on_one_very_very_strange_year_at_uber
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2020/05/05/uber_lyft_sued/
[3] https://2b0kd44aw6tb3js4ja3jprp6-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FINAL-Press-Release-TAM-MarinTransit-Uber-6.17.2020.pdf
[4] https://twitter.com/David_Reich/status/1273283783949643780
[5] https://go.theregister.com/tl/1956/-8475/the-forrester-new-wave-public-cloud-enterprise-container-platforms-q3-2019?td=wptl1956