As the pandemic continued throughout 2020, we announced four key actions to more aggressively tackle the challenge of climate change. It’s our responsibility as the largest mobility platform in the world to reduce emissions and help drive a green recovery in our cities. 

We’re excited to kick off 2021 with more actions to increase clean mobility options for riders, drivers and cities.

Expanding Uber Green 

First, we’re expanding Uber Green, our EV and hybrid ride option, to 1,400+ new North American cities and towns. Riders in cities like Washington D.C., Austin, Calgary, Houston, Miami, New York City, Tucson, Winnipeg and hundreds more can now choose a greener ride. Drivers also receive an extra $0.50 directly from a $1 rider surcharge for every Uber Green trip completed, with the other half going to support EV adoption.  

We’re also integrating Uber Green into our membership service, Uber Pass, so that Pass members will receive 10% off Green trips just as they would with a standard ride.

Helping Drivers Transition to EVs 

Next, we’re announcing key updates to our partnerships with vehicle manufacturers, charging network providers, and EV rental and fleet companies to help drivers access more savings and make an equitable transition to electric vehicles: 

  • Avis EV rentals – Starting in Los Angeles, drivers now can use a zero-emissions vehicle through Avis’ new, affordable EV rental program. We’ll expand this program nationwide in 2021.  
  • Ample Modular Battery Swapping for EVs – Starting this month, drivers in San Francisco can rent a vehicle with Ample technology and quickly swap their electric vehicle batteries in mere minutes, then return to the road fully charged.
  • Expanded EV charging discounts with EVgo – Our partnership with EVgo is providing exclusive savings for drivers on Uber’s platform across 800+ U.S. locations, making it more affordable to access out-of-home EV charging.

Investing in our Multimodal Network 

In our drive toward zero emissions, we’re continuing to expand our offerings of sustainable alternatives to the personal car. This will help cities avoid a return to traffic gridlock and pollution once people feel safe to move again. Today we’re announcing: 

  • Journey Planning is now available in 10+ more cities, including Atlanta, Auckland, Brisbane, Buenos Aires, Guadalajara, Philadelphia, Rome, Bangalore, Chennai, and Mumbai.  This means you can plan your entire public transit journey, from swiping through real-time schedules to walking directions to and from transit stations, directly in your Uber app in more than 40 cities globally.
  • Uber and Transit is rolling out in Mexico City and London, having been previously available in Sydney and Chicago. This feature empowers you to lower your emissions and reduce congestion by planning a multimodal trip, combining UberX with walking directions and city bus, subway, or train connections.

New Partnerships

Overcoming the climate change challenge, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19, will require unprecedented resources, best practice sharing, and partnership between government and industry leaders. That’s why we’ve recently joined two initiatives:

These updates are just the start—we’ll have much more to share later this year as we continue driving a green recovery in cities around the world.