An Opportunity for Uber to do Some Good

This was a week of contrasts here in Boston. On the one hand, we saw the launch of Uber Eats, where well-heeled Bostonians can now have everything from donuts to sushi delivered to their doorstep within 30 minutes. Then yesterday, a Boston Globe article, “Want Healthy Food? In Much of Mass. It’s Hard To Get”, pointed out that, in Springfield, the state’s third-largest city, “It’s not hard to find a McDonald’s in the Mason Square section of Springfield. Liz O’Gilvie has counted 10 within a mile and three-quarters of her home. But the nearest full-service grocery store, with plump apples and curly kale? That’s 2 miles away, and going that distance on public transit requires a two-hour trek on three buses.”

Which got me thinking, here’s a possible ‘win-win’ opportunity for Uber, which has come under criticism for some of its practices and the poor behavior of some of its executives. A large number of low-income Americans don’t have a car and/or live in so-called “food deserts”, relying on fast food or overpriced packaged food from local convenience stores. There are now initiatives in Massachusetts and several other states to develop creative financing mechanisms to help fund the development of grocery stores and others means of ‘food access’ in low-income areas. There are also several government options, from food stamps to vouchers, and ‘food trust’ programs that provide reduced prices for groceries, if you can get there.

Perhaps there is a way to put some of this funding into helping people get to places where they can buy healthier food at reasonable prices. Many ‘food deserts’ are in areas where there is inadequate public transportation and taxis either don’t exist or are very expensive. Ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft could provide a better option.

This wouldn’t be all that hard to implement. In certain geographies, for a trip to a grocery store that’s more than a mile away, Uber or Lyft could add a discount code or some other option, such as a pop-up “Groceries” icon, to enable a free or reduced-price trip. The app could be smart enough to work for trips to a specified set of grocery stores in an area. I am sure Uber could work with the federal government and local agencies to help subsidize or provide some funding for some of these programs in return for a tax break or other incentives. This might end up being cheaper for the government and local transportation agencies than some of the programs in place today that seem to be perpetually on the chopping block. Plus, it’s likely a healthy percentage of the drivers participating in this proposed program would come from the local community, so there’s a benefit there as well.

Perhaps we could get some of the larger grocery retailers or big box chains such as Costco or Walmart to participate as well. Let’s say a roundtrip to the local grocery store costs $15. Perhaps the user kicks in $5, with the remaining 2/3 covered by a combination of the ride sharing company, public funding, and the retailer. With the apps, data, and proliferation of payment options/services, implementing such a program would, logistically, be far easier to accomplish than even ten years ago.

Doing some good wouldn’t hurt Uber’s image, either. Imagine if Uber, using data gained from these rides, could say, “In 2017, we enabled one million food shopping trips for low-income Americans who lacked good transportation options”. While I’m all for Instacart, Uber Eats, and other services that deliver groceries and meals to your office or home, let’s face it, these services are urban-centric, priced at a premium, and are generally for the well-heeled and/or super-busy. If we put half the energy into helping people living in ‘food deserts’ get to food as we have into apps that get food to affluent folks living in ‘food oases’, we could enable healthier eating and cost savings to millions of people.

Published by

Mark Lowenstein

Mark Lowenstein is Managing Director of Mobile Ecosystem, an advisory services firm focused on mobile and digital media. He founded and led the Yankee Group's global wireless practices and was also VP, Market Strategy at Verizon Wireless. You can follow him on Twitter at @marklowenstein and sign up for his free Lens on Wireless newsletter here.

8 thoughts on “An Opportunity for Uber to do Some Good”

  1. Efoodra est la solution idéale pour les restaurateurs qui ont des difficultés à trouver des serveurs. Notre système de commande via QR Code permet aux clients de commander et payer directement depuis leur téléphone, ce qui élimine la nécessité d’un personnel de service. De plus, notre système est entièrement intégré avec les principaux fournisseurs de paiement, ce qui vous permet de recevoir vos paiements en temps et en heure.

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