The taxi-hailing service Uber has introduced its digital data sharing website – Uber Movement – to urban planners, city leaders, and any other third parties in Kenya.
The publicly accessible portal will help any interested party in Kenya get raw data about traffic in cities where Uber services are available; mainly Nairobi and Mombasa. The data therein will help the user make informed decisions based on data on traffic at different times of the day across different roads in and around the city.
Uber Movement gives users the ability to filter the data down to specific dates and times. Enabling users to investigate the impact of traffic occurrences such as road closure due to maintenance or security reasons, floods, and electoral process among others.
Uber assures users that all information aggregated on Uber Movement will be anonymized. The main mission of the site is to provide users, such as urban planners, accurate data on the flow of vehicle traffic in and around the cities.
This information could be beneficial to arms of government dealing with traffic management and planning of roads construction. The data will enable such users to establish if the investment put towards transport infrastructure construction will be useful in reducing traffic.
Uber used the East Africa Com conference to unveil the portal. The event was attended by government officials, city planners, and think tanks from both the local and international scene. During the event, Uber’s Head of Public Policy for East Africa, Cezanne Maherali, said Uber Movement will play a critical role in connecting cities and giving city planners accurate data to effectively recognize transportation needs.
Kenya becomes the third African country, where Uber has launched the portal; coming after South Africa and Egypt.
