Uber promises 50,000 new EU jobs if regulators play ball
UBER boss Travis Kalanick yesterday vowed to create 50,000 new jobs in Europe this year, but only if regulators in European cities start working with Uber to introduce “progressive regulation” allowing the growth of ridesharing apps.
“Uber is committed to establishing new partnerships with Europe’s cities to ensure innovation, harness powerful economic benefits and promote core city functions,” said Kalanick at the Digital-Life-Design Conference in Munich.
Uber was previously banned across Germany after courts ruled it did not comply with laws on the carriage of passengers.
In recent months Uber has been banned in Spain, Holland and New Delhi after an Indian woman was allegedly raped by an Uber driver. Just last month Paris banned Uber’s carpooling service UberPOP from the start of 2015.
Kalanick said European regulators needed to introduce new common sense regulation that embraces changing technology and safety standards, pointing to 22 US jurisdictions which have introduced ride sharing regulations over the past year.
Kalanick said Uber could help remove 400,000 cars from European streets in 2015, reducing emissions as travellers ditch their cars by using the smartphone app.
Since Uber’s arrival in London two years ago the San Francisco startup has created 7,800 jobs and claims over 900,000 people have used the service. In December Uber raised $1.2bn (£791m) in a funding round believed to value the firm at over $40bn, more than tech giants Twitter, Netflix or LinkedIn.