Uber to compete with public transport in new strategy

Uber has finally come of age, as the cab aggregator has sought to shed its earlier claim of "complementing" public transport. The company has announced its vision of replacing "public transportation, one use case at a time", along with private vehicles.

The global ridesharing giant set out its vision in documents filed at the Security Exchange Commission, United States, ahead of the much-talked-about initial public offering. India is one of the 57 countries, where the company sees potential in replacing public transport.

The company goes into the details of potential markets and explains the prospect is in becoming the alternatives to the existing modes that serve trips of less than 30 miles (48 km). This essentially means that city bus services will be Uber's target.

"We believe we can continue to grow the number of trips taken with our ridesharing products and replace personal vehicle ownership and usage and public transportation, one use case at a time," the document explains.

The latest "strategy" comes at a time when road transport corporations (RTCs) are in losses and lack government support. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), with losses soaring above Rs 700 crore, received a pittance in government aid. The government owes the four corporations Rs 1,080 crore as bus pass subsidy.

The BMTC has written to the government requesting a ban on ridesharing services, Ola and Uber. "The department says they have written to the Union government for its comment. Meanwhile, we are descending into losses," an official said.

During the inauguration of Uber's office in the city, a company official had said that its operations would complement BMTC services.

Vinay K Sreenivasa, a member of Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike, said it was clear that the growth strategies of companies such as Uber do not sit well with mobility strategies for cities like Bengaluru, where the idea is to have more people use public transport. "It is time the government regulated these companies to ensure that their operations feed into the overall strategy to keep our cities sustainable. In the status quo, they are using the resources of our cities to make huge profits with no oversight," he said.

Sreekumar K, head of Integrated Transport at the World Resources Institute, said governments should introduce regulations to create a level playing field for both private and corporate sectors. "RTCs should improve efficiency by adopting the latest technology. The present route operations have led to BMTC buses competing with each other. The government should stop pushing them to make a profit," he said.

Uber India did not respond to questions on the possible effects of their strategy on public transport in the country. "Unfortunately, we won't be able to comment on the (matter) as of now," a spokesperson said.