Mercedes-Benz Vans is entering the ride-sharing sector. To this end, the van division of Daimler AG is setting up a joint venture with the US startup company Via. Daimler Mobility Services additionally joins in as a strategic investor in Via. Unlike other ride-hailing companies, Via has focused on developing, from the ground up, a scalable and on-demand shared ride solution. The intelligent Via algorithm supports smart public transport, enabling a dynamic mass transit system that reduces traffic volume in urban areas. The fusion of Via’s technology with the engineering of Mercedes-Benz Vans creates the perfect match for efficient, affordable and sustainable ride-sharing. As part of the cooperation, Mercedes-Benz Vans is investing 50 million US dollars in the new joint venture. For Daimler Mobility Services, Volker Mornhinweg will be joining Via’s board of directors.

Headquartered in New York, Via’s successful shared ride service in New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. provides over 1 million rides per month, and its revolutionary technology is licensed by partners around the world. Together, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via aim to introduce on-demand shared rides in Europe. Via’s revolutionary technology is changing the way people get around cities. With Via’s intelligent shared rides, passengers headed in the same direction are matched with a single van, increasing vehicle utilization while relieving the strain on inner-city roads. London will be the first city to launch the new joint service this year. Other European metropolises will soon follow.

“On-demand ride-sharing offers many new ways of making city traffic efficient, needs-based and sustainable – especially when it involves the use of spacious, safe and comfortable vans,” says Volker Mornhinweg, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. “Via is one of the most successful providers in the growing ride-sharing sector while Mercedes-Benz Vans has the perfect vehicles that are being continuously optimised for this job. By deepening our cooperation with Via, we are thus taking the next logical step in the context of our strategy for the future and are expanding our range of new mobility services.” The cooperation is another milestone of the adVANce strategy of Mercedes-Benz Vans focussing on the transformation from a vehicle manufacturer to a provider of holistic van system solutions.

The investment is part of the Daimler strategy focussing on pioneering innovations and digitization, especially in the four future fields of connectivity (Connected), autonomous driving (Autonomous), flexible use and services (Shared & Services) and electric drive systems (Electric). “With our mobility services like car2go, mytaxi and moovel we are already today reaching more than 15 million customers worldwide. As one of the leading providers of digital mobility services our investment in Via is a logical step to expand our portfolio according to our customers’ needs”, says Klaus Entenmann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Financial Services AG. “We are thus further expanding our digital mobility services. We have the financial resources that are required for this growth path.”

“We are delighted to have the Daimler Group on board as an investor and strategic partner. Combining Via’s technology with the exceptional design and engineering of Mercedes-Benz Vans is ideal for our vision of offering efficient, affordable, sustainable, and comfortable shared rides everywhere,” says Daniel Ramot, co-founder and CEO of Via. “Having completed over 20 million rides, we at Via know that having the right vehicle is crucial for providing the best customer experience. We are excited to expand our successful partnership with Daimler, which began in 2015, and collaborate on developing the optimal vehicle for the future of mobility,” says Oren Shoval, CTO and co-founder of Via.

Via is re-engineering public transit – from a regulated system of rigid routes and schedules to a fully dynamic, on-demand network that provides an innovative supplement to existing transportation networks. Passengers request rides through a mobile app, and Via’s sophisticated algorithm instantly finds a vehicle that best matches the passenger’s route, allowing for quick and efficient shared trips without detours that take riders out of their way.

New joint venture set to establish on-demand shared rides in Europe

Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via have been successfully cooperating since 2015. The joint venture between Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via will operate as a new entity with headquarters in Amsterdam. The joint goal is to bring on-demand shared rides to Europe. The joint venture will not only launch its own service in European cities, but will also license Via’s proprietary technology – the On-Demand Shuttle Operating System – to third parties, such as transport service providers and local public transit operators. By enabling vans to be dynamically routed between thousands of virtual bus stops distributed across the city, this innovative approach to public transit helps reduce traffic volume in cities without requiring the construction of costly new infrastructure.

Long term strategic partnership to further develop the mobility concept

Mercedes-Benz Vans and Via will in the future cooperate on the further development of intelligent mobility, including optimizing the design of Mercedes-Benz Vans vehicles for shared ride use. The models mainly used will be the Vito Tourer (up to nine seats) and the V-Class (up to eight seats) being continuously adapted for this intended use. Beyond developing advanced software and sensors, another focus of the long term strategic partnership lies on the use of the locally emission-free electric-drive Mercedes-Benz Vito and autonomous driving.

• Innovative on-demand shared ride service to launch in Europe: Mercedes-Benz Vans sets up joint venture with US start-up Via.

The International Transport Forum at the OECD has a new Secretary-General. Dr. Young Tae Kim, a Korean national, has taken up his position at the organisation’s Paris headquarters on 21 August.

Kim is the first non-European to lead the world’s only all-modes transport organisation.

The ITF acts as a policy think tank for its 59 member countries and organises the annual summit of transport ministers. Created as global intergovernmental transport organisation in 2006, the ITF evolved out of the European Conference of Ministers of Transport founded in 1953.

“It is a privilege to lead an organisation that drives global dialogue for better transport”, Secretary-General Kim said upon taking office. “I thank the ministers of transport of ITF member countries for entrusting me with the leadership of ITF. I will work with all of them to consolidate what has been achieved, to make our work even more relevant for them, and to further strengthen the ITF’s global impact.”

“Transport technology and services are changing in dramatic ways that require new policy responses. I want ITF to be a global pioneer of advanced transport policies for the 21^st century”, Kim added. “The ITF is the only global body with a mandate for all transport modes. We are known for our cutting-edge research and policy analysis. Our annual summit is already the world’s leading  platform for global transport policy dialogue.”

“My ambition is to develop the ITF into a truly interactive platform that will be able to develop core orientations for the future of transport in a time of change and disruption.”

“The ITF should continue to grow and become even more global. I want to reach out to further countries in emerging world regions. I will aim to strengthen links with International Organisations, Multilateral Development Banks And research institutions. And I plan to systematically engage the private sector in policy dialogue via the ITF Corporate Partnership Board.”

“As I am taking over the leadership of ITF, I also pay tribute to my predecessor, José Viegas. His achievements over the past five years provide a strong foundation to build on.”

Prior to becoming ITF Secretary-General, Kim served as a Director-General in Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. His career also included roles working for the President and the Prime Minister of Korea as well as three years at the Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. Kim holds holds a doctorate degree from the Institute d’Etudes Politiques (Science-Po) in Paris, France.

• Young Tae Kim takes office as ITF Secretary-General.

From 50 ways to leave your lover, as the song goes, to 750 types of shampoos, we live in an endless sea of choices. And although I haven’t been in the market for hair products in a while, I understand the appeal of picking a product that’s just right for you, even if the decision-making is often agonizing. This quandary (the “Goldilocks Syndrome”, of finding the option that is “just right”) has now made its way to the travel industry, as the race is on to deliver highly personalized and contextual offers for your next flight, hotel room or car rental.

Technology, of course, is both a key driver and enabler of this brave new world of merchandising in the travel business. But this is not your garden variety relational-databases-and-object-oriented-systems tech. What is allowing airlines, hotels and other travel companies to behave more like modern-day retailers is the clever use of self-learning systems, heuristics trained by massive data sets and haptic-enabled video hardware. Machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are starting to dramatically shape the way we will seek and select our travel experiences.

Let every recommendation be right. AI is already starting to change how we search for and book travel. Recent innovation and investment has poured into front-end technologies that leverage machine learning to fine tune search results based on your explicit and implicit preferences. These range from algorithms that are constantly refining how options are ranked on your favorite travel website, to apps on your mobile phone that consider past trips, expressed sentiment (think thumbs up, likes/dislikes, reviews) and volunteered information like frequent traveler numbers.

Business travel, as well, is positioned for the application of AI techniques, even if not all advances are visible to the naked eye. You can take photos of a stack of receipts on your smartphone; optical character recognition software codifies expense amounts and currencies, while machine learning algorithms pick out nuances like categories and spending patterns. AI is also improving efficiencies in many operational systems that form the backbone of travel. Machine learning is already starting to replace a lot of rule-based probabilistic models in airport systems to optimize flight landing paths to meet noise abatement guidelines, or change gate/ramp sequencing patterns to maximize fuel efficiency.

Making decisions based on reality. VR and AR are still changing and evolving rapidly, with many consumer technology giants publicly announcing products this year we can expect to see rapid early adoption and mainstreaming of these technologies. Just as music, photos, videos and messaging became ubiquitous thanks to embedded capabilities in our phones, future AR and VR applications are likely to become commonplace.

VR offers a rich, immersive experience for travel inspiration, and it is easy to imagine destination content being developed for a VR environment. But VR can also be applied to travel search and shopping. My company, Amadeus, recently demonstrated a seamless flight booking experience that includes seat selection and payment. Virtually “walking” onto an airplane and looking a specific seat you are about to purchase makes it easier for consumers to make informed decisions, while allowing airlines to clearly differentiate their premium offerings.

Continue reading… https://venturebeat.com/2017/08/03/how-tech-is-making-travels-inconveniences-much-more-convenient/?bt_ee=/IIPkvdXdolHSpNyEV1rdMwAXiemsHfsbYH/0M3VeM1tXAdbooaDPnOTeSHLQUIN&bt_ts=1501868681613

• How AI, AR, and VR are making (business) travel more convenient

The Chrysler brand and Kango, an app-based, on-demand service providing safe, reliable rides and childcare for kids from preschool to high school, today announced a new partnership that will make available new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans for use by eligible Kango drivers. In this first-of-a-kind partnership between a family rideshare service and an automaker in the U.S., the Chrysler brand will make a fleet of new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans available to eligible Kango drivers, for an affordable lease, to promote safety and environmental stewardship and to provide a best-in-class ride.

The California-based Kango will deploy the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid vehicles inSan Francisco beginning in fall 2017. The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans will be used by Kango’s pre-screened, trusted drivers to transport riders in the San Francisco Bay area.

“Kango is excited to partner with Chrysler to make its new Pacifica Hybrid minivans available to our eligible drivers,” said Sara Schaer, CEO of Kango. “In addition to being a green vehicle with the best mileage of any minivan, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid will help us meet the growing demand for shared carpool rides for groups of kids going places. Drivers save money on gas. Kids are delighted with the minivan’s kid-friendly features. It’s a win for everyone.”

“Parents and children today are busier than ever and often need to be in multiple places at one time. The Chrysler brand is focused on providing transportation solutions for families to make their lives easier,” said Tim Kuniskis, Head of Passenger Car Brands – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. “The Chrysler Pacifica is the ultimate family vehicle, and with the addition of the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, it’s now the most fuel-efficient family vehicle. Together with Kango, we will make it easier for parents to manage conflicting priorities at work with the knowledge that their kids are being transported to their activities in a safe environment.”

Kango and Chrysler brand are providing families with top of the line safety, technology, comfort, and service for the benefit and enjoyment of Kango’s regular customers. Kango’s drivers and caregivers all have previous childcare experience. They are Trustline-certified, fingerprinted, background checked, DMV record-checked and screened in person, leading Kango to win “Best Uber for Kids” in San Francisco magazine’s 2017 Best of San Franciscoawards. In addition, Kango is the only service insured to drive children of any age, providing car seats, as well as booster seats. It is also the only kids’ ridesharing service that performs both same-day and pre-scheduled rides, seven days a week, and allows families to meet a driver or sitter beforehand if desired.

The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is America’s first-ever hybrid minivan, and along with its eco-friendly electric range and best-in-class MPG, comes equipped with 100-plus safety and security features, giving parents peace of mind. In addition to safety, the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid is kid-friendly, providing the largest dual touchscreens of any family car, offering built-in games and apps with the available Uconnect Theater.

The Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans are also perfect for multi-family carpools – a common scenario, as Kango drivers can do multiple pickups and/or multiple drop-offs in the same ride. For example, Kango can pick up neighboring kids and bring them to school in the morning, or pick up several kids from an afterschool activity and drop them off at their respective homes.

“Overall, Kango is so excited to be working with Chrysler to delight our customers with a best-in-class ride experience, and to advance the future of safe, environmentally friendly transportation for families,” Schaer said.

• Chrysler team up with Kango Family Rideshare.

A group of San Diego tech entrepreneurs believe with the right partner, their platform will be able to quickly monetize the rideshare advertising space. With proven technology, and beta program complete, RIDEPLAY tv is now servicing advertisers and paying rideshare drivers by the mile.  The fully functional platform is equipped with proprietary technology that streams entertaining content and advertisements on tablets within the back seats of rideshare cars like Uber & Lyft.

After 2.5 years of bootstrapped development, RIDEPLAY tv is now broadcasting its own content network along with placed advertisements.  The reaction from passengers and drivers has been extremely positive.  After polling drivers, RIDEPLAY tv has seen driver ratings go up, passengers tickled by the content, and a change in consumer behavior.  Drivers say 25% of the time passengers reroute to a destination advertised on the tablet.

Accelerating beyond the friends and family investment, RIDEPLAY tv is seeking a partner that will help increase distribution to serve a long waiting list of regional and national clients.

“We’re young and flexible. We’re focused on finding the best active partner to come on board and help us take our platform to the next level,” says RIDEPLAY tv CEO, Greg Maestro.

The app is available in IOS and Android platforms and has rideshare drivers kicking down the door to join a growing waiting list for the opportunity to earn a 20% increase in annual income.

According to projections, the US rideshare advertising market is over $2 billionin untapped annual advertising revenue.  RIDEPLAY tv believes it can capture a large part of this market with the right partner/investor.
• Could rideshare advertising be a $2 billion space for advertisers?

Since Van Hool and ABC, two family owned and run businesses joined in 1987, the shared vision of Van Hool and ABC Companies has centered on developing and relationships with customers.

With a unique premium European product offering, supported by ABC’s established distribution, sales, parts and service network, the partners continue to distinguish the brand and demand for the Van Hool product in the American marketplace.

From the start, both families understood that listening and responding to customer needs would be crucial to success. Over three decades, Van Hool has modified equipment models and introduced ongoing series of fully-Americanized versions that have steadily gained popularity, grown market and mindshare, and increased customer loyalty year in and out.

“There are many key turning points in our history together,” said Roman Cornell, ABC Chief Commercial Officer. “And it’s exciting to see where the breakthroughs occurred.”

Most notably was the breakaway success of the Van Hool C2000 series introduced in 2000. Built exclusively from the top down for the North American market, within a year it not only became the most popular imported coach in the U.S., it also outsold all the other imported coach models combined.

“Customers loved this product because it was the direct result of listening to their input,” Cornell said. “While they know to expect premium quality and support from Van Hool and ABC, I believe what they really appreciate is the hands-on aspect of working with both of our companies.”

Today, with more than 10,000 Van Hool coaches on the road, and three generations of ABC and Van Hool family leadership, the brand dominates the highway coach private market segment. “Customers know that we are just as invested in surviving and succeeding as they are,” said Filip Van Hool, CEO of the eponymous firm. He believes the family-oriented cultures at ABC and Van Hool makes it easy for customers to do business with their firms. Van Hool says the arrangement brings significant benefits not applicable when transacting with a larger corporate structure.

“Our priority is to give customers the confidence and the solutions they need to support their operations,” Dane Cornell said. He believes ABC’s entrepreneurial business approach supports that goal. Cornell notes few manufacturers can claim that they’ve had three generations actively run a successful business, a trait they share with many operators throughout North America.

Accessibility and access within both organizations often results in product modifications directly forged by customer needs and preferences. A few prime examples of customer collaboration include the introduction of the Van Hool TD925 double deck coach. This double deck coach delivered a high-capacity solution to Coach USA for the launch of its Megabus market expansion and is the go-to solution for many Silicon Valley employee shuttle programs. More than 600 Van Hool double deck coaches in the U.S.

Similarly, the CX35 Van Hool model was introduced to answer operator calls for a smaller version of the popular CX45 foot coach with a reduced passenger capacity that would not sacrifice the “big coach” look, style, and feel. The new CX35 model has been another success with orders exceeding expectations and thanks to standardized design and manufacturing and numerous interchangeable parts with the 45’ version, operators can realize significant parts, as well as driver training savings when running both models in their fleets.

The partners are committed to future-looking innovation and investments that contribute to greater control and efficiencies for their customers and business strategies. Plans to expand and strengthen their parts business supply chain will afford faster access to needed components for customers, Roman Cornell said. “We envision growing our supply chain and distribution network to tightly sync with operator requirements when and where support is needed all over North America.”

Cornell also references the numerous technologies emerging each year that can make operations more efficient. “ABC and Van Hool are focused on rapid technology adoption, and whenever possible being first to market with tech-driven solutions for our operators.”

• Van Hool and ABC: successful 30 year partnership.

Ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft have been so disruptive to New York’s taxi industry, they are causing lenders to fail.

Three New York-based credit unions that specialized in loaning money against taxi-cab medallions, the hard-to-get licenses that allow the city’s traditional cab fleet to operate, have been placed into conservatorship as the value of those medallions has plummeted.

Just three years ago, cab owners and investors were paying as much as $1.3-million (U.S.) for a medallion. Now, they are worth less than half that and some medallion owners owe more on their loans than the medallions are worth. “You’ve got borrowers who are under water. This is just like the subprime-loan crisis,” said Keith Leggett, a credit-union analyst and former senior economist at the American Bankers Association.

LOMTO Federal Credit Union, which was founded by taxi drivers in 1936 for mutual assistance, was placed into conservatorship by the National Credit Union Administration on June 26 “because of unsafe and unsound practices.” New York has the country’s largest taxi industry, with more than 13,000 medallions.

Marcelino Hervias bought his medallion in 1990 for about $120,000 and thought its value would hit $2-million by the time he was ready to retire. Instead, the 58-year-old said he owes $541,000 and is driving 12 to 16 hours a day to make ends meet. “I celebrate my kids’ birthdays over the phone. Why?” Mr. Hervias said.

While some medallions are held by large owners with fleets, owning a single medallion was long seen as a ticket to the middle class for immigrants such as Mr. Hervias, who is from Peru.

Many of them now owe more on their medallion loans than they originally paid for the medallions because they used their equity in the medallion for a home, a child’s education or other expenses.

Mr. Hervias said he borrowed against his medallion to pay for medical care for his mother, a new car and a visit to his homeland. “Every time we want to go on vacation or do something, where do we go? To the equity of the medallion,” he said.

Other medallion owners tell similar stories.

Constant Granvil bought his medallion for $102,000 in 1987 and said he now owes more than $300,000 to his lender. He could have sold the medallion for two or three times that a few years ago, “but I said no, I’m not going to sell it,” Mr. Granvil, 76, said. “And then I got caught.”

The value of Mr. Granvil’s medallion is hard to pinpoint because 2017 sale prices have varied from $200,000 to $500,000, and more, depending on whether lenders are willing to finance the purchase.

Meanwhile, Mr. Granvil, who no longer drives because of poor health and uses a broker to hire a driver, said he is facing threats from the lender, Melrose Credit Union, to foreclose on not just his medallion but also his house. “How am I going to live?” he said. “And now Melrose wants to take my house?” The New York State Department of Financial Services took possession of Melrose Credit Union in February and appointed the NCUA as conservator.

Critics say the federal agency is playing hardball with medallion owners such as Mr. Granvil, who have been making their payments, by demanding that they pay off their loans in full or face foreclosure.

“They’re approaching it with this cookie-cutter idea,” said David Beier, head of the Committee for Taxi Safety, an association of taxi-leasing agents. “They want you to mortgage your house to them as collateral. It’s forcing borrowers into bankruptcy.”

Continue reading:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/new-york-taxi-cab-credit-unions-feel-ripples-of-uber-lyft-disruption/article35702895/

• New York taxi credit unions in jeopardy through falling medallion rates.

The ridesharing company announced this week that it was adding “the #1 most-requested feature for business travelers.” That feature: automatic ride expensing, travel trade magazine Skift reports.

Users with business profiles can add their company’s expense management system, if available — Lyft has partnered with several including Concur, Expensify, ChromeRiver, Certify, and others — and rides taken under those profiles will be automatically sent for approval.

“Our goal is to provide reliable, easy-to-adopt, and cost-effective transportation solutions to make Lyft the preferred partner for businesses,” Kamil Rodoper, head of enterprise product, said in a statement. “Integrating with expense management systems saves time and creates a seamless experience for employees to do their expenses.”

Lyft is fairly late to the development. Uber, a much larger player in ridesharing, already made expenses automatic for business profiles last year. The moves by both companies show the importance of widespread business traveler adoption as the companies continue to grow.

Even though ridesharing has been moving toward the mainstream for years now, it’s still not universally accepted by travel policies and continues to be a subject of discussion for the corporate travel industry. And it’s one of the topics that will come up next week at the Global Business Travel Association Convention, which Skift senior writer Andrew Sheivachman will attend in Boston.

We also expect to see discussions about the way geopolitical disruption affects business travelers; alternative accommodations such as Airbnb; virtual payments; airline fares and fees; and the next wave of business travelers (yes, there is a generation after millennials).

• Automatic ride expensing with Lyft.

Uber and Russian internet giant Yandex announced something of a curve ball: They plan to merge and create an all-new company that combines their respective ride-hailing services in six markets, while also including Uber’s food-delivery service, UberEats, for good measure.

The newly created $3.8 billion business is somewhat reminiscent of Uber’s deal with Didi Chuxing in China last year, albeit on a smaller scale. But a number of notable tidbits emerged from today’s news, including how Uber was actually performing in Russia and its neighboring markets — put simply, Yandex was performing roughly twice as well as Uber, in terms of number of riders and the overall dollar value.

On the surface, it initially appeared as though the formation of a new combined company would affect just six markets in the region: Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, and Georgia. But digging down into the details of the imminent integration of the services reveals something a little more interesting.

The Yandex and Uber apps will be kept separate, meaning riders can continue to use either branded service. However, the driver apps will be integrated as part of a unified platform, “leading to shorter passenger wait times, increased driver utilization rates, and higher service reliability,” according to a Yandex statement.

By extension, this means that Yandex riders will be given instant access to Uber drivers, and Uber riders will be given instant access to Yandex drivers — without having to sign up, download, or do anything different. And this has interesting implications on a global level, particularly for Yandex.

Yandex is a major technology company in its own right, but isn’t that well known outside a handful of countries, with Russia — a country of 144 million people — serving as its main market. In contrast to Uber, which is available in hundreds of cities across every continent, Yandex.taxi had been available only in six countries, but as a result of this deal, Yandex riders will be able to access Uber drivers in any country around the world without having to install any new apps.

Conversely, Uber riders touching down in Moscow, for example, will now have access to a much wider pool of drivers — up to 30 percent more, according to Yandex.taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan. “This creates one of the most convenient ride-sharing roaming agreements in the world,” he said. This is a win-win for both companies, giving them instant access to a much larger pool of riders that they would have hitherto not been able to access.

While Uber is the most successful of the e-taxi brands from a global perspective, countless local alternatives thrive around the world, including Grab, which is big in Asia; Gett, which has a notable presence in the U.S., U.K., Russia, and Israel; and Daimler’s MyTaxi, which has millions of users across 50 European cities. Last summer, MyTaxi effectively merged with U.K.-based e-taxi company Hailo, and it later went on to snap up Greek rival Taxibeat too.

Continue reading:

https://venturebeat.com/2017/07/13/how-merging-with-uber-expands-yandexs-global-presence/

• Uber customers flying into in Russia get more choice, same with Yandex customers travelling internationally.

Uber and Russian internet giant Yandex announced something of a curve ball: They plan to merge and create an all-new company that combines their respective ride-hailing services in six markets, while also including Uber’s food-delivery service, UberEats, for good measure.

The newly created $3.8 billion business is somewhat reminiscent of Uber’s deal with Didi Chuxing in China last year, albeit on a smaller scale. But a number of notable tidbits emerged from today’s news, including how Uber was actually performing in Russia and its neighboring markets — put simply, Yandex was performing roughly twice as well as Uber, in terms of number of riders and the overall dollar value.

On the surface, it initially appeared as though the formation of a new combined company would affect just six markets in the region: Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, and Georgia. But digging down into the details of the imminent integration of the services reveals something a little more interesting.

The Yandex and Uber apps will be kept separate, meaning riders can continue to use either branded service. However, the driver apps will be integrated as part of a unified platform, “leading to shorter passenger wait times, increased driver utilization rates, and higher service reliability,” according to a Yandex statement.

By extension, this means that Yandex riders will be given instant access to Uber drivers, and Uber riders will be given instant access to Yandex drivers — without having to sign up, download, or do anything different. And this has interesting implications on a global level, particularly for Yandex.

Yandex is a major technology company in its own right, but isn’t that well known outside a handful of countries, with Russia — a country of 144 million people — serving as its main market. In contrast to Uber, which is available in hundreds of cities across every continent, Yandex.taxi had been available only in six countries, but as a result of this deal, Yandex riders will be able to access Uber drivers in any country around the world without having to install any new apps.

Conversely, Uber riders touching down in Moscow, for example, will now have access to a much wider pool of drivers — up to 30 percent more, according to Yandex.taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan. “This creates one of the most convenient ride-sharing roaming agreements in the world,” he said. This is a win-win for both companies, giving them instant access to a much larger pool of riders that they would have hitherto not been able to access.

While Uber is the most successful of the e-taxi brands from a global perspective, countless local alternatives thrive around the world, including Grab, which is big in Asia; Gett, which has a notable presence in the U.S., U.K., Russia, and Israel; and Daimler’s MyTaxi, which has millions of users across 50 European cities. Last summer, MyTaxi effectively merged with U.K.-based e-taxi company Hailo, and it later went on to snap up Greek rival Taxibeat too.

Continue reading:

https://venturebeat.com/2017/07/13/how-merging-with-uber-expands-yandexs-global-presence/

• Uber customers flying into in Russia get more choice, same with Yandex customers travelling internationally.