Since Uber launched in 2010, its executives have repeatedly predicted that ride-hailing services and eventually self-driving cars could one day bring about the end of individual car ownership.
Just last year, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi predicted that all cars would be autonomous in “20 plus years,” leading to a decline in car ownership. He even suggested that driving itself could one day become viewed “like horseback riding” is today.
More recently, Uber President and Chief Operating Officer Andrew Macdonald said during an August episode of the 20VC podcast that “nobody’s going to own a car” in 15 to 20 years.
But until then, Uber apparently wants to help people reserve parking spot for the cars they currently own.
The company rolled out Uber Parking on Monday, a new feature that lets users find, compare, and reserve parking spots directly through its app.
The launch comes about nine months after Uber announced its acquisition of parking reservation app SpotHero (which Uber execs say will continue to operate as a separate app). The deal gave Uber access to SpotHero’s network of more than 13,000 parking garages, lots, and valet services, across more than 400 cities in the U.S. and Canada.
For now, however, Uber Parking is only available in 15 U.S. cities including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.—although Uber says it plans to expand the feature.
The Uber app now has a new Parking icon on its home screen.
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