Pittsburgh Mayor Wants Uber to Do More For Community
The city’s mayor thinks the ride-hailing tech company has some work to do if it wants to continue its self-driving car tests.
Pittsburgh, the first city where Uber's self-driving cars began picking up passengers, is looking for the ride-hailing tech company give back a bit if it wants to continue tests, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“If they are going to be involved in economic disruption, they have a moral obligation to society,” said Mayor Bill Peduto, according to WSJ. “In a partnership, it’s not just what we can do for them.”
Peduto is looking to get Uber to sign a memorandum that would hopefully lead to improved work conditions for its drivers, new resources for older Pittsburgh residents, and more strides in fuel efficiency, according to the report.
An Uber spokesperson said to WSJ that the company has not yet read through the memorandum.
“Uber is proud to have put Pittsburgh on the self-driving map, an effort that included creating hundreds of tech jobs and investing hundreds of millions of dollars,” an Uber spokesperson said to WSJ. “We hope to continue to have a positive presence in Pittsburgh by supporting the local economy and community.”
In March, a conversation was stirred up after one of Uber's self-driving Volvo XC90s crashed and flipped on its side in Arizona. Currently, the company is involved in a lawsuit with Google's Waymo over allegedly stolen self-driving tech.
