◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek September 30, 201920
JESSICA NOLTE/BLOOMBERGTHEBOTTOMLINE Attacksondrivers,resultingin morethana
dozendeathsthreeyearsago,ledUbertoblockservicein some
favelas.It’snowreadytotrytotapintothatmarketagain.▼AnUberpickuppoint
in the São Paulo favela
Vila Heliópolisare in low-paying jobs as workers in factories,
small shops, or services such as housecleaning.
Several hundred fill the streets most mornings in
Heliópolis, queuing up for public buses and crowd-
ing around a subway station.
The pilot is a partnership between Uber and
United Central of Favelas, or Cufa, a favela eco-
nomic development organization. Uber execu-
tives, working with local leaders and residents,
mapped Heliópolis and identified eight virtual
pickup points, including a church and a public
school, and a physical spot next to the fruitstand
that’s outfitted with a bench and a Wi-Fi connec-
tion—all deemed safer for drivers and customers.
“Their drivers were afraid,” says Cufa President
Celso Athayde. “Uber had to go into the favela, talk
to the residents.” Gathering feedback helped the
company “better tailor its service,” he says. For
example, it created a pared-down version of its app
so that it could work on smartphones with less mem-
ory. The residents may be poor, Athayde says, but
they’re willing to spend on things they need, such
as transportation, as long as it’s affordable and espe-
cially if it helps the economy of the favela.
In addition to identifying the pickup locations,
posters with the slogan “Tem Uber” (“There’s
an Uber”) were plastered around the commu-
nity. They feature a “Made in Heliópolis” logo.Localbusinesseswereinchargeofdeveloping
themarketing campaign. Greater involvement,
Athayde advised Uber, would help create more
trust and educate residents about the company
and its business.
“This wasn’t only a mobility project, but a
social inclusion one,” says Uber’s Sampaio. “We
also had an ‘Uber expo’ in the favela with partners
such as car rental companies to help attract poten-
tial drivers.” The company has also sponsored soc-
cer and arts events in the neighborhood.
Drivers say they feel more secure driving to des-
ignated pickup spots. “I don’t go to certain areas
of the favela,” says Cezar Nascimento dos Santos,
who lives in Heliópolis and has driven for Uber for
two years. He also doesn’t work on Sunday morn-
ings, he says, when people head home from the
fluxo—informal parties that bring thousands into
the streets of the favelas.
Because each community is unique and the
Heliópolis project was so “artisanal,” Sampaio
says, Uber still hasn’t decided how it will repli-
cate the project in other favelas. “It’s not like a
cake recipe that we can do over and over again.”
——Fabiola Moura◀ For more information
on the future of
transportation, go
to Bloomberg.com/
hyperdrive