Uber is using vehicles like the one above to provide map info on Mexico roads. (PHOTO: techcrunch.com)
Uber Technologies Inc. is expanding its road-mapping effort to Mexico, as part of a larger strategy to build up its map data for its ride-hailing service and to rely less on potential competitors like Google, Bloomberg reports.
A year ago, Uber hired former Google Maps vice president Brian McClendon, who spent 10 years at Google refining the search giant’s maps. McClendon wrote in a blog post that Uber is “doubling down on our investment in mapping” and said accurate maps are “the heart of our service and the backbone of our business.”
Uber said the mapping focus is on Mexico for now, but the company plans to expand it to other countries soon. The company has also been building up its mapping technologies with its wallet: last year, it bought mapping startup deCarta as well as a subset of Microsoft’s mapping business. It also hired dozens of researchers from Carnegie-Mellon University’s robotics engineering center and started its own research outpost in Pittsburgh.
Source: bloomberg.com
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