Uber Launches Digital Data Sharing In Kenya
In keeping with the shared Mobility Principals for Livable Cities signed by 15 of the world’s most influential transport tech players, Uber has launched a data sharing portal in Kenya. Kenya becomes the third African country where the Silicon Valley app has launched its Uber movement service following releases in Egypt and South Africa.
Such is the magnitude of the transport tech players that only recently, 15 of the major players signed an agreement on Shared Mobility Principals for Livable Cities. Their collective bargaining power is such that they can on a political scale influence the way large cities operate globally. The New Delhi agreement includes signatures from Lyft, Uber, Ola, Citymapper, Zipcar, Ofo, Ola, Didi, Keolis, Transit, BlaBlaCar, Via, Scoot Networks, Mobike and LimeBike. Globally, these 15 companies have a significant impact on how people live, responsible for up to 77 million passenger trips daily. Together they agreed to prioritize the needs of people over vehicles, decrease their impact on the environment and encourage data sharing that can ease congestion and pollution in major cities.
Since its launch in 2013, the ride-hailing giant has made eight successful launches on the African continent. Just recently winning decisive court rulings in Egypt to protect their operations. The Uber Movement platform will share anonymized data from passenger trips allowing transport planners and third parties to assess current infrastructure requirements better while also determining areas of improvement.
The digital platform was launched at the East Africa Com Conference which attracted government officials, city planners and local as well as international think tanks. In a country that struggles with traffic congestion, an improved understanding of its transportation needs only stands to make transport tech players like Uber more palatable to governments. Loic Amado, General Manager of Uber in East Africa, said, “Uber movement is a data sharing website for city planners, civic leaders and third-party developers to understand transport needs of Nairobi better.”
With the rise in urban population, traveltech is gaining prominence in the city landscape. Recently, South Africa’s GoMetro unveiled its new app for streamlining the information related to traffic movement.
