UPDATED 22:16 EST / MAY 22 2017

EMERGING TECH

Pittsburgh joins the list of people and places that don’t like Uber

Pittsburgh can now be added to the list of people and places that don’t like ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc. as multiple reports Monday claimed the city and the people who reside there are not very happy with the company’s local presence.

According to the story, first written up by The New York Times but since confirmed elsewhere, the attitude apparently stems from broken promises. They include Uber’s deciding to charge passengers riding in self-driving vehicles as well as a number of unmet promises, including the company’s not backing the state in an application for federal funding and not providing jobs it had apparently promised.

Uber started testing its self-driving vehicles in Pittsburgh, a city that was once world-renowned for its steel industry but is now better known, along with the likes of Detroit, as part of America’s “rust belt,” back in September. Despite its West Coast location, Uber picked the city because of favorable state laws that allowed it to test its self-driving cars on city streets, something that is still limited to only a handful of cities across the United States.

The drama surrounding Uber’s presence in the state emerged after a Democratic mayoral primary earlier this month. Opponents of incumbent Mayor Bill Peduto criticized his relationship with Uber, describing the company’s presence as being a “stain” on the city. Peduto won the primary, but the backlash against Uber continues. Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb described Uber’s presence as “an opportunity missed.”

Pittsburgh falling out of love with Uber’s self-driving program could perhaps be described as nothing more than a minor blip for the company given the multitude of other problems it’s currently facing. Putting aside that Uber’s self-driving vehicles are the worst in the burgeoning market, the technology they use is alleged by Waymo Inc., Google Inc.’s self-driving car unit, to be stolen. Uber recently managed to dodge having its self-driving car program suspended by a court order, but the company seems to be struggling at a time its main rival, Lyft Inc., has announced that it will be deploying Waymo vehicles starting next year.

Photo: iwasaround/Flickr

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