Uber's ridesharing business UberPool has been highlighted in Mary Meeker's KPBC Internet Trends 2016 as part of the report's "Re-Imagining Transportation" section.
"Shared private rides [are] becoming urban mainstream" the report says, and references UberPool's growth since its launched in August 2014 as an example. UberPool now accounts for 20% of Uber's total.
The stats come direct from Uber, cover the first three months of 2016 and offer a rare glimpse into Uber's operational scale. KPCB lists Uber as one its "consumer digital" investments.
These numbers show that ride-sharing, facilitated of course by mobile platforms, has a significant role in what used to be the taxi app business. UberPool's presence in 36 cities is modest compared with the core Uber brand which is live in 469 cities.
The figures for China are interesting, particularly as Uber is facing severe competition across all its business lines from Didi. While 30 million rides a month sounds a lot, Didi's own carpooling footprint is reportedly 1.57 million a day. Didi's rideshare options exist in 15 cities across China, one more than UberPool.
This is a negligible difference compared with how big a lead Didi has in the core taxi-app business - it claims a market share of 99%.
An interesting historical perspective is referenced in the report - a hundred years ago there was ridesharing product in Los Angeles called "jitneys" which carried around 150,000 passengers a day before being "regulated out of existence" by 1919.
And an unusual (if tenuous) future-gazing perspective is that in the US the average commuter spends 19 hours a month getting to and from work. Ridesharing frees up this time, which means user can spend more time online, which represents a significant engagement opportunity for marketers and entertainment platforms.
To access the report in full, click here.
From earlier:
The killer slide (for travel marketers) in Mary Meeker’s 2016 internet trends report
Related reading from Tnooz:Uber gets $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia government (June 2016)
Apple pumps $1 billion into China’s Didi (May 2016)
Volkswagen invests $300 million in Gett (May 2016)