Making Tech Headlines · Page 1
Uber Discovers a Car Can Make Money While Parked
· New York time
Uber is launching a service that lets customers reserve and pay for parking in major US cities, following its acquisition of parking app SpotHero. The company says the deal gives it access to 13,000 garages, lots and valet services across more than 400 cities. The initial service is aimed at human drivers, adding a new task to an app best known for arranging rides. Instead of helping someone avoid finding a space, Uber can now help find one. The car still has to get there, but the company would like to remain useful once the trip stops. Uber also sees a possible role for the spaces in autonomous transportation. It says robotaxis could use them as staging and waiting locations, potentially reducing congestion and the distance vehicles travel without passengers. That is a prospective use, not a claim that the parking service has already solved either problem. The plan illustrates how a ride-hailing platform can expand into the infrastructure around a journey. Parking is less glamorous than the promise of a car arriving on demand, but every vehicle needs somewhere to be between trips. Uber has found a way to participate in both movement and its prolonged absence. The app, naturally, would prefer that neither happen without it.
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