Delhi becomes first Asian city to have Uber’s ‘Public Transport’

October 23, 2019: Uber’s chief executive officer Dara Khosrowshahi on Tuesday launched the public transport service feature for New Delhi to integrate the app with the Delhi Metro and public bus service. The announcement in the capital city came after the company won a public bid to offer mobility services across 210 Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) stations.

Launched in 2019, Uber now has nine cities across the globe where this feature is available: Denver, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco, London, Paris and Sydney. New Delhi is the only Asian city to have this feature now.

After riders enter a destination, they could see ‘Public Transport’ as an option alongside UberGO, Premier and UberPool. Upon selecting the ‘Public Transport’ feature, riders will be able to see fastest and cheapest routes; real-time schedules; including departure time for public transportation, including Metro and buses and walking directions, to and from nearby Metro stations and bus stops.

Today, we launch Uber Public Transport in Delhi. ‘We want to be the operating system for your everyday life and believe we can replace your car with your phone’ @dkhos #MovingCitiesForward pic.twitter.com/l1EDFYqwFy

— Uber India (@Uber_India) October 22, 2019

“We understand that the future of transport is multimodal and that ridesharing alone can’t help build the smart cities of the future. To do so we recognize the power of partnering with transit or public transport systems across the globe. We’ve been working with transit agencies across the globe for years, building partnerships such as the one with Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to provide paratransit services in Boston, to our effort in Nice, France to provide late-night connecting service to rail lines,” says the release.

Uber has also announced in partnership with DMRC a ‘model Metro station’ to showcase future smart mobility solutions and how public transport can be integrated with Uber’s multi-modal vision for urban mobility. It highlights a breadth of first and last-mile options with organised and dedicated pick-up and drop-off areas to complement public transportation.

The integration of mass-transit systems and ridesharing on one app is expected to improve congestion, provide cleaner air, cut down carbon footprint and also help leapfrog car ownership to enter a new era of smarter mobility.