Uber celebrates 10 years in Portugal and announces launch of new service

To celebrate 10 years in national territory, Uber launched this Wednesday, May 8, a new service. UberX Share becomes another solution available to the Portuguese, who now have the option of sharing trips between users.

At an event where Distribuição Hoje was present, at the brand’s Center of Excellence in Portugal, Francisco Vilaça, General Director of Uber in Portugal and responsible for the mobility business, began by analyzing the impact of Uber’s decade of presence in the country.

In his initial intervention, the person responsible began by mentioning that “Portugal is not only a success story in terms of change and impact on people’s lives, it is also synonymous with innovation”, thus opening doors to show, in numbers, a story that began in 2014, since which time the platform has transported more than 12 million passengers, having carried out 200 million trips.

Portugal is not only a success story in terms of change and impact on people’s lives, it is also synonymous with innovation.

But there were more numbers to be presented. According to the mobility brand, more than 70 thousand drivers have already used the Uber application and a total of 195 cities have already made trips through the platform, and, out of curiosity, Vilaça also shared that “the most active user has already made more of 9 thousand trips in Portugal”, and that the longest trip was made between Lisbon and the south of France, “demonstrating that Uber can be a solution even when the plane fails”.

“This transformation of mobility in Portugal was only possible through the development of an extensive and vast portfolio that responds to the needs of users in their daily lives and their mobility needs”, emphasized Francisco Vilaça.

According to the person responsible, this transformation in mobility also brought significant impacts at an economic level. “Over these 10 years, and according to official data from the National Statistics Institute (INE), relating to the occasional passenger transport sector, we see that the sector’s revenue grew by 258%”, he explained.

Employment in the sector grew by 85%, and from 13 thousand net jobs increased to 28 thousand currently, highlighting the general director of Uber, that the number of companies doubled and the turnover tripled, now standing at 711 million euros.

 

The most active user has already made more than 9 thousand trips in Portugal.

“These are truly impressive numbers, which we are proud to have played a fundamental role in achieving. Therefore, when we look back, there were 10 years in which more jobs, more companies, more turnover and more tax revenue were created, unequivocally showing the positive impact of the flexible TVDE model in our country”, emphasized Francisco Vilaça.

The Uber manager also mentioned the importance of safety in its operations. “Thanks to a set of initiatives, we managed to create what is the mode of mobility subject to the most demanding security protocols in terms of urban mobility existing in our country. There are more than 20 tools, many of them pioneers, that guarantee this type of safe experience, as security begins with access to the platform”, said the person in charge.

The milestones of 10 years of presence in Portugal
In a second moment of the presentation, Francisco Vilaça also discussed the arrival of the platform in Portugal, on July 4, 2014, with the Uber Black solution, the year in which the brand also introduced UberX. Always innovating, two years later, the platform would end up making a world debut in Portugal, launching Uber Green, with Lisbon going down in the platform’s history as the first city in the world to introduce this service. For the person responsible, it was the “first step towards the platform’s energy transition”.

The platform has already transported more than 12 million passengers, having carried out 200 million trips.

The following year, Uber Eats emerged, a delivery service for goods and meals, and four years later, in 2018, the brand marks another important milestone for the mobility sector, with the arrival of the TVDE law, legislation that came “bring clear rights and duties to all participants in the sector”, explains the general director of Uber.

In 2019, Uber entered the New York Stock Exchange, a move that, for Vilaça, translated into “an increased responsibility for transparency and compliance, essential to bring confidence to our investors”, emphasizes the person in charge. The following year, curiously, the brand was almost forced to ‘suspend’ operations globally with the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the momentary halt of economies. 2020 was inscribed in the brand’s history as a challenging moment, reminding Vilaça that the core of the platform “is moving people from A to B”.

However, without stopping advancing on its path, in 2021, the platform opened the Center of Excellence in Portugal, making it the largest in Europe, with an investment of more than 91 million euros. Today, the space is ‘home’ to more than 400 employees, providing support to 12 countries, in a total of seven languages.

Commitment to sustainability
Addressing the issue of sustainability, Uber’s general director highlighted the launch of the Uber Green service, a 100% electric solution, launched in 2016 from Lisbon to the world, and which marked the brand’s journey in this field.

For the person responsible, this solution implied commitments and, to this end, Uber committed to, by 2030, having 100% of kilometers in Europe and North America with zero gas emissions, advancing with more than 1.5 million euros to encourage and support this “green transition”, with the aim of doubling investment in the coming years.

But how will these objectives materialize? Through partnerships with insurance companies, car manufacturers, rental companies and electric charging companies, to be able to offer better conditions for TVDE operators and reduce costs.

In addition, the brand says it offers a direct incentive of up to 1,500 euros per combustion vehicle switched to an electric one. Francisco Vilaça also states that, monthly, organized webinars that bring information, experiences and show that the transition to electric mobility “should not be a big deal, but rather something that is, in fact, highly profitable and highly efficient”.

UberX Share: The new ‘boy’ arriving on his birthday
Uber ”, says Francisco Vilaça.

According to the general director of Uber, this modality will allow users to save up to 30% on a trip, thus bringing more public and increasingly helping to complement public transport and the absence of the need to have an individual vehicle at home.

Uber X-Share is now available and is a ride-sharing solution between users, which allows more people to take trips in the same car.

“It is a more economical, more ecological option and, in this way, we are able to reduce vehicles and emissions in city centers”, highlights the person in charge. And he continues: “this sharing solution has an origin and a destination and the stops are made to be able to bring other people. Therefore, with people who don’t know each other and who aren’t coordinated, you get the benefit of having a vehicle and different people. This is highly relevant in times of high congestion or high demand, that is, when there are no vehicles, people can get transport for a lower price.”

The Uber manager also states that the “match” between people, that is, the pairing between people and trips, guarantees that the additional time added to the original trip does not exceed eight minutes.