Transportation
Why Uber Is Promoting Road Pricing
Cities that charge drivers to use gridlocked roads would play well with the company’s aggressive expansion of carpool options.
Uber built its empire by avoiding paying for stuff, especially the fees cities levy on traditional car services. But at end of a PR month as fraying as the last two, the ride-hailing giant is changing its tune about at least one kind of fee: road pricing, or any scheme that charges car commuters to ease horrendous traffic.
“We’re ready to support this type of broad-based road pricing because a marketplace for efficiency is an exciting prospect for ridesharing companies,” writes Andrew Salzberg, Uber’s head of transportation policy and research, in a Medium post published Thursday. “When all car users pay a price for their travel, we believe even more people will be incentivized to share.”