Nearly one year after inking a deal with Marin County in California, Uber will offer its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business to three new public transit agencies. The rideshare company said on Wednesday (April 14) that it will sell its SaaS products to Denver, Cecil County, Maryland and Porterville in California, The Verge reported.
Denver’s Regional Transportation District will begin employing Uber’s management software on its fleet of wheelchair-accessible vehicles this week, with Cecil Transit and Porterville Transit following in the weeks to come. These agencies will pay a fee to use Uber’s technology.
Beginning late this month, Cecil Transit will use Uber software to transport “riders in recovery seeking access to employment, essential services, appointments and recovery programs,” Uber noted. Porterville Transit, which operates between Fresno and Bakersfield in California, will roll out its Uber vehicles early in May.
Uber made its first transit deal in June of last year, offering residents of Marin County, population 250,000, a chance to use Uber’s app to book minibus rides. The deal allowed the county transit agency to charge riders $4 per mile, with a dollar discount for every mile for travelers with disabilities or mobility issues. Uber earns a flat fee for managing the service, capped at $80,000.
“Agencies have been approaching us for years now, trying to figure out ways they can tap into the technology we’ve built within Uber,” Uber’s David Reich said last year. “This is the first step toward us being able to provide that to them.”
As The Verge noted, Uber has been accused in the past of contributing to a decline in public transit. In hopes of defusing some of that criticism, the rideshare firm has begun adding transit directions and ticketing to its app, as well as integrated public transit schedules.