Uber
A Regional Transportation Commission bus advertises its partnership with Uber.
Monday, Jan. 6, 2020 | 1:17 p.m.
Public transportation nationwide has struggled to compete with immensely popular rideshare options such as Uber and Lyft. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is no exception.
But now, Uber and the RTC are joining forces with the launch of a new feature on the Uber app to allow people in Las Vegas to find bus information and purchase bus tickets. The RTC and Uber announced the partnership Monday, with officials from both organizations saying the initiative will streamline transportation in Las Vegas.
“In Southern Nevada, we believe it is our responsibility to test, learn and evolve so we can continue to position public transit as a convenient, accessible and viable transportation option for our growing community,” said M.J. Maynard, CEO of the RTC.
As the initiative rolls out over the next few weeks, locals and visitors alike will be able to compare prices and routes between Uber car services and local bus service on the Uber app.
If they choose to take the bus, they can buy bus tickets on the app using their payment information already stored and used for Uber trips. Then, they can redeem the ticket and scan it as they board an RTC bus.
The new feature will make it easier for tourists to take the bus, as they are unlikely to be familiar with Las Vegas’ local bus service or to have downloaded the RTC’s own transit app, rideRTC, Maynard said.
“We recognize that tourists may not be interested in downloading another app during their stay, because many of them already have transportation-related apps downloaded to their phones,” she said.
Las Vegas is the second city in the world to offer an app that features both public transportation and private rideshare options after Denver, said David Reich, director and head of transit at Uber.
The initiative was born out of Uber’s desire to become a “one-stop shop” for transportation and to make public transit more accessible and equitable, Reich said.
“In a lot of situations, taking public transportation is faster or cheaper than taking an Uber,” he said. “By putting that information all in one place and letting people have the real-time transit data, the trip planning and the ticketing all in the app, it makes it so that they can traverse the entire city using a single app.”
Technology company Masabi provides the payments platform that enables users to purchase RTC tickets on the Uber app, said Nick Cardillicchio, head of partnerships at Masabi. Since the same initiative launched in Denver in May 2019, use of the app there has increased significantly, Cardillicchio said.
“Our idea is that by having it in as many places as possible, you’re increasing ridership or increasing discoverability and access to public transport,” he said.
Reich recognized that it might seem counterintuitive for Uber to feature competing transportation services on its own app. The hope is that the upgraded app will increase loyalty to the service by showing users that Uber “has their back,” he said.
“It’s a change in Uber’s strategy and there are some risks to it, but we realize that over the long-term, we’re going to build that trust with riders,” Reich said.
The RTC hopes that the initiative will increase public transportation ridership in Las Vegas and make it easier for people to get around – and at no direct cost to the agency.
“Creating a seamless experience for our residents and visitors to move easily and conveniently among multiple modes of transportation is the future of public transit, and we’re proud to be one of the first agencies to embrace it,” Maynard said.
