Uber this week launched a new tool for mapping travel times, called the Uber Movement. The move, which will be powered by the company's vast arsenal of ride data, will help urban planners analyze traffic patterns and will also allow users to measure travel times between various places.
According to TechCrunch, the new Movement website, which is only available to registered users, will allow access to its data around traffic flow in scores where it operates. Movement is designed particularly for city planners and researchers who conduct traffic studies to improve urban mobility and development.
In the coming days, Uber will start offering access to its data from dozens of global cities. Uber said the anonymised data will contain data from cities like Manila, Sydney and Washington DC.
The company also plans to expand the tool to include every major city where Uber currently operates. These data can be a resource for urban planners to analyze traffic patterns and make more informed decisions about civic infrastructure development and future urban mobility projects.
According to Wall Street Journal, the ride-hailing app wants to be known as a valuable part of the country's massive urban transportation networks, where it may influence future urban planning decisions and development. The company has already worked with transportation departments in several cities in the past to ensure the data would be useful.
Uber has also shown some demonstration of the Uber's Movement website, showing the quickest route path within the city of San Francisco.
However, Uber, at this time, has insufficient numbers of rides to make the complex calculations. This data still lacks specifics, such as how much demand the company really generated for rides that can further help city planners in their detailed infrastructure studies. This means that the company won't get any precise figures yet.
The new Uber Movement website arrives as many cities and transportation agencies are looking to compel more data from Uber and similar services. Uber Movement will be opening its door all users in the coming months.
