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Uber opens data, launches Movement

10 Jan 2017
Uber opens data, launches Movement

Uber opens data, launches Movement

This week Uber introduced its Movement website, using anonymized information about the billions of rides its drivers have completed. The site is free to use and will be open to planning agencies and researchers. Uber says it will soon also make the website freely available to the public to allow them to track car travel times between any two points in a city at any time of day.

A statement from Uber says, “Uber trips occur all over cities, so by analyzing a lot of trips over time, we can reliably estimate how long it takes to get from one area to another. Since Uber is available 24/7, we can compare travel conditions across different times of day, days of the week, or months of the year – and how travel times are impacted by big events, road closures or other things happening in a city.”

Uber notes this is just the first step too, “City planners face a myriad of challenges, and we hope to help tackle more of them over time. We’re excited to partner with city officials, urban planners and research organizations to continue building features that today’s transportation planners need. While it’s early days for this product, we’re committed to serving cities from Manila to Melbourne to Washington, DC.” The news comes as Uber is locked in a dispute with the City of New York over sharing information about where drivers pick up and drop off riders – something Uber has refused to do. The city says the information would enable it to determine whether drivers are working too many hours but Uber says it violates passenger privacy. Uber has clashed with cities around the world on issues from self-driving cars to working conditions for its network of ‘freelance’ drivers – a hotly disputed issue, with some authorities and drivers’ groups insisting they are to all intents and purposes employees and should be treated as such. This new data-sharing initiative could help rebuild some goodwill.

Things to come

Airbnb has faced similar data-sharing requests and the latest news reflects a growing power struggle between technology companies, researchers and governments. Companies such as Uber, Facebook and Airbnb hold growing stores of data about user behavior, and it could contain valuable insights that could benefit the public. However, it is also the companies’ most valuable asset. As the platform economy grows, challenges and opportunities around data will continue to emerge, from the moral and ethical to the technical and organizational. TM Forum is working with members on data-sharing and issues such as privacy, trust, monetization, service-level agreements and more. Last year, we launched a new global initiative to grow urban data economies – the work coming out of it is relevant to cities, service providers and technology suppliers. Find out more here.