Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Exclusive: Uber’s CEO on its new app”.
(, music, pops ), So Uber is making some changes to its app.. This is the beginning and not the end of our moving to really think of Uber as the operating system for your city life.. It sounds good, but it’s not exactly ground. Breaking. Uber is moving things around inside the app., Streamlining it., Making it easier to us. And they’re, also adding some things like public transportation, which makes sense when you consider what Uber’s ultimate goal. Is. Now for years, Uber, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has been saying that he wants Uber to become the Amazon for transportation. [, Andrew ] And now they’re, finally making it happen..
When we sat down with Khosrowshahi recently to talk about some of these new details exclusively – and he also walked us through some of the challenges that Uber’s facing too., He let us take the new app out for a spin which we did on a subway.. ( upbeat music ), Then you can go down, see routes and it says, leaves in two five, eight minutes., It’s a six minute. Walk. Shows you where to walk to get to the station.
That looks good.. Should we roll That looks good., Let’s do it.. Let’S do it.
[ Andrew ]. Do you think this is a better experience than your Google maps? Your city mapper? It’S a comparable experience, but ultimately it’s better because you have all of your choices: here., It’s Amazon, product, search versus, let’s say Google product search., Because we’re so focused on city transportation, which is where the majority of our business is., Because we’re so focused about the complete Experience., It’s not just information, but ultimately we want to integrate information that allows you to take action and purchase this transit. Option. Uber doesn’t want to just be an app.. It wants to be a platform for every mode of urban transportation.
You could possibly think of., Even if it’s not making money off of some of those modes., You see the more stuff that Uber can cram into its app like bikes and scooters and buses and subway the better chance it has to squeeze money out of all that. Engagement. [ Dara ] To some extent we’re competing against ourselves. You’re, not making money off of this.
So why offer it One? It’S the right thing to do.: It’s the right solution for the consumer.. Usually, if you aim at the best solution for the consumer, you’ll win longterm.. Second, we have seen experimentally that increases in engagement with app. That more people they wake up.. They use the app more often. And if more people are opening our app more often, then there will be business down the road.
We’ll be able to monetize that one way or the other. [ Andrew ]. Of course, Lyft offers a lot of the same things in its app.
And Uber’s a lot bigger than Lyft and operates in cities outside of the US. But in the US drivers work for both apps. And sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference between both apps. Now Uber used to say it wanted to compete with public transportation. But now it’s changing its tune and says it wants to compliment not kill transit.. But it’s not so simple.. There have been a number of studies over the years that show that Uber has been leading to a decrease in ridership on public transportation. And that can lead to things like lossed revenue and service. Cuts.. Now Uber can say it wants to put public transportation on an equal footing with Uber X and that could help shift more customers to buses and trains., Or it could have the opposite effect and accelerate the decline of public transportation.. Ultimately, whether or not our users choose transit or rides et cetera, I can’t predict., You know, transit has competition anyway, but we with data. We wan na make sure that transit data is available to all the users and we think we can be a constructive part of transit growing over a long period of time..
We wan na integrate ticketing. Right now. We only have information but over a period of time, we’ll integrate ticketing.
So that the experience that you can have taking transit is just as delightful as the experience that you can have taking a ride as well. Now there’s more to the app than just public transportation.. Uber’S, adding new firewalls to help improve safety and regain people’s trust.. Now, there’s a new pin verification system that riders can opt into so they don’t accidentally get into the wrong car.. You can text 911 from in the app in case. You need emergency services. And your phone will get a notification if you get dropped off near a bike lane, so you don’t accidentally door someone.. Now, Uber is in the news a lot these days for reasons entirely separate from its app.. The company lost $ 5 billion. Last quarter, which is a record for the chronically unprofitable company.
Cities are being overrun with car congestion and Uber is partly to blame. And California is on the cusp of forcing Uber to reclassify its drivers as employees rather than contractors, which could blow up the company’s entire Business model., Meanwhile Uber sued New York City for the second time this year, over new rules and restrictions on ride, hailing. Cities and states across the country are cracking down on Uber and Democratic presidential candidates, who are talking tough about the tech industry and wanting to improve Driver’S lives are cheering them on from the sidelines.. My concern is that the politicians right now are playing to a reactive base, which ultimately is not a better solution for society and definitely not for our drivers and not for our riders. And Uber is still growing. Just a lot slower than people were expecting. And the challenges it faces are a lot more existential than the ones it faced in the past.. There are some who think that Uber will just keep losing money until it eventually goes out of business.. Now, whether Uber becomes the Amazon of transportation like Khosrowshahi predicts, will depend a lot on how that future turns out.. What does Uber look like in five years? Do you think You’re gon na use us to get to places.
You’re gon na use us to get packages. You’re gon na use us to have your food, and I think we will be seen as an incredibly valuable partner for cities everywhere.? Is there jaywalking allowed? Oh yes., Is this like true? Oh yes, it’s encouraged.! Is it like true New York or like fake New York, It’s encouraged. All right. There we go., I used to live her.
So if I don’t jaywalk ( laughs ), I feel weird.. I feel odd. Yeah exactly.
You’re, not true New Yorker, unless you’re jaywalking .