Safety & Security of Uber Rides

Is the transportation industry safe to commute for societies across the globe? This question pops into everyone’s mind when it comes to safety and security of the transportation industry. The safety and security concerns both passengers and as well as employees and employers. “In the transportation industry the key stakeholders are passengers and employees.” Centuries ago, in the 17th century, a taxi service was introduced that provided commuting services to passengers on Hackney carriages. As the Earth evolved and time progressed, in the 21st century, the citizens of the world have multiple options for transportation to select from for the purpose of commuting. For example, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Calgarians have the following public transportation to select from: Calgary Transit, Lyft, inc. (started operations in 2023), Uber Technologies, Inc. (started operations in 2015); and as per Calgary.ca website, there are five taxis brokerages as of May 2023, namely, Associated Cab, Calgary City Cab, Calgary United Cabs, Checker Cabs, and Delta Cab.

Although Calgarians have vast range of public transportation options, the spectrum of risks associated with these transports are extensive and worthwhile to discuss in this blog post. I have used Calgary Transit for years and in 2023, I’ve started using services offered by Uber. For instance, if I need to order a meal home, I use Uber Eats which is a subsidiary of Uber Technologies, Inc. When I need to take a ride to Calgary downtown, I prefer to use Calgary Transit over my personal vehicle to avoid traffic in rush hours and paying steep dollars for vehicle parking; whereas I use taxi or uber services to commute short distances. Like myself, there are individuals who have their preferences on which transportation mode they wish to use. As per 2023, on Investopedia, Uber is operating in seventy countries and in over thousands of cities worldwide. I would like to discuss the risks and dangers associated with the services provided by Uber Technologies, inc. in our communities. According to Cooney & Conway, risks associated with Uber include but are not limited to Theft, Assault, Sexual Assault, and Auto Accidents.

The most prominent risk with Uber is sexual assaults; this risk is both daunting & horrific to passengers and drivers. When such an incident occurs, the victim’s families are humiliated, disgusted, and even terrified, and hence, it becomes a key concern for communities. Therefore, the responsibilities fall upon the lap of authorities and public service providers, alike, to take drastic actions against perpetrators. Sexual assaults incidents are immensely powerful in that they cause a toxic & hostile environment in market and, unsafe business practices, causing stressful personal lives for victims. According to Edmonton Police Services website, sexual assault can be “defined as assault of a sexual nature that violates the sexual integrity of the victim.” Furthermore, there are numerous forms of sexual assault including but not limited to: “attempted rape, fondling or unwanted sexual touching, forcing a victim to perform sexual acts, such as oral sex or penetrating the perpetrator’s body, penetration of the victim’s body, also known as rape,” and others.

As I strongly believe in equal rights and consider no gender is either inferior or superior to the other, I attempt to discuss incidents of sexual assaults victims and how such assaults have potentiality to harm lives and communities. Uber Technologies, Inc. have been in services for over 14 years, and they constantly encounter and are still in operation amid the rise in gender-based violence & sexual assaults.

The incident occurred on April 26th, 2023, when an “Uber driver sexually assaulted passenger then used her phone for 5-star review and tip: police.” This article was published on “CBC News [which] is a division of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation” and was founded in year 1941 by Dan McArthur’s directions. The April 2023 article was published by David Horemans onhttps://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/uber-driver-sex-assault-tip-review-york-police-1.6823011. When I read the article, I was quite shocked and scared because assault of any type is unacceptable. One should not commit such heinous crimes as such crimes can destroy the life of a victim. I chose this article because of the rise in availability of Uber services due to which risks and dangers associated with it also increase. We live in the 21st century, where humans have lots of facilities available to live a decent life, human rights and their security should be vital and topmost priority for any industry. Since Uber is in the industries of Transportation and Mobility as a service, it is important to discuss and explore the dangers it brings along with it.

The article was interesting to me because Uber is a well-known company and citizens of the world are aware of Uber’s services and their mission. Their mission statement is “to help people go anywhere and get anything and earn their way.” Nonetheless, the sexual assault incidents are always traumatizing, and I believe that everyone should feel secure & safe especially when they travel alone in rideshares irrespective of time, distance, destination, and location. Additionally, when sexual assault incidents occur in the case of Uber Technologies, inc. both parties (drivers & passengers) can endure severe consequences.

The article illustrates three major points: (1) Uber driver allegedly assaulted a passenger, (2) after the sexual assault the driver used the victim’s phone to give a 5-star rating and as well as tipped himself, and (3) driver also gave himself a favorable review. This depicts notion of the importance of ratings, a favorable review, and how important tipping is for Uber drivers. Most drivers work for Uber as a side hustle and to earn extra bucks. Moreover, they tend to rely on the ratings in an Uber application to select future rides, and finally, they also need a favorable review to make aware and inform the masses at large that the driver is one of the best selections. As per the news published on multiple websites such as CBC and NowToronto, we can confirm that the incident occurred in Vaughan, Ontario.

When we reflect our learning from the course, the article relates to the following key points covered over the last few weeks:

1. In the first week we learned about Stakeholders. For Uber company, the key stakeholders are Drivers and Passengers. This article mentions the incident of sexual assault where the victim was the passenger, and the perpetrator was the driver. Although, both the key stakeholders were engaged to fulfil the objective of driving and being driven to destination, in this situation, the victim was assaulted and the perpetrator gave himself a favorable review on the Uber app, tipped himself, and as well as gave himself a 5-star rating, thus one stakeholder remain pleased over the other, but for the other, the bitter ride concluded on a tragic note.

2. In the second week we learned about Entrepreneurship: Starting a Business. The origin of Uber started with an idea of two individuals who were unable to get a cab. So, the thought and the article pose a question to young and fresh future-entrepreneurship to assess the potential risks and dangers associated with opening a business which could become grandeur. It is quite possible that co-founders of Uber Technologies, Inc. Garrett Camp and Travis Cordell Kalanick did not assess how Uber would grow internationally with all potential risks and dangers associated with its operations.

3. In week three we learned a concept of “Span of Control” which essentially “measures the number of people reporting to a particular manager.” If a horrific event occurs within the company or while using the company’s resources such as using Uber application to schedule a ride, it becomes the responsibility of the managers to control and mitigate the risks of sexual assaults. Of course, Uber has offered services to communities for the past fourteen years, but it still shows the lack of managerial control over Uber drivers. If the employees were in the control of managers, then there would not necessarily be incidents of sexual assaults.

4. We also learned in week three about SWOT analysis. The analysis helps assess external and internal factors that could impact the operations of the company. SWOT is an acronym that stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Strengths and Weaknesses are evaluated by internal forces and/or factors, whereas Opportunities and Threats are assessed by external forces and/or factors. The following question arises when reading the article: did the management of Uber Technologies, Inc. fail to conduct a SWOT analysis when in the process of enlarging their company or even when they initiated business?

5. In week four we learned about marketing, where the concept of 4-Ps of marketing mix was introduced. The four Ps of marketing mix are: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Although Uber offers a useful product, i.e., giving a needy a ride from the initial point to a destination in seventy countries, the price is competitive where the Uber price is relatively less than that of a local Taxi. As per the article written by Alexandra Pope on Canadian Geographic magazine, dated November 10, 2015, states that “UberX can result in savings of anywhere from 20 to 50 per cent over regular taxi fares.”

Furthermore, Uber leaves no space for promoting itself. It uses following tactics and much more:

· Using advertisements.

· Inviting journalists to try Uber services and if a journalist was pro-Uber, then the journalist would mention it in their article.

· Using influencers and celebrities to reach millions!

· Sending free credits to customers in a new business location.

· Using [modern] technology like QR codes and mobile apps to make requesting a ride quick and easy.

However, the question remains of the 4th P which is Place. Did Uber do the right thing by offering their services at thousands of cities across seventy different countries despite knowing the culture and society of each country? Every country is different in terms of their respective citizens, their mentality, socioeconomic status, and their upbringing, and much more, so what sort of implications will Uber face when it comes to sexual assaults?

6. In week five, we learned about money, which falls under the realm of Accounting and Finance. As per their annual report, following are the key numbers & ratios to reflect on:

· Uber’s revenue has increased by about 83% in 2022 from 2021, due to an increase in bookings. This clearly shows that they are making money.

· In 2022, Uber possesses total assets worth of $32109m and total liabilities of $23605m, giving a liquidity ratio of 1.36 (which is greater than 1.00!). This indicates that Uber Technologies, Inc. is in great shape to pay off their current bills.

· In 2022, Uber’s total owner’s equity was $8074m, this tells us that the company’s debt-to-equity ratio is 2.92 and the ratio implies that Uber has borrowed more than its equity. Thus, uber relies on heavy external resources to run its operations. Could this have an impact on its long-term sustainability? The analysts’ conclusions may vary as they see the future.

7. In week six, we learned about what motivates employees to continuously work for an employer. Given the incident and assault reported in the article, my question is why do individuals continue to apply for jobs and work for companies such as Uber and additionally, why do passengers ride in Uber services when the dangers and risks of riding and giving rides to passengers could potentially end up in a sexual assault? What motivates them? We have also learned that there are “four influential theories of motivation: hierarchy-of-needs theory, two-factor theory, expectancy theory, and equity theory.” I assess that people are potentially motivated to work for Uber Technologies, Inc. because of Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy-of-needs theory. This theory states that an employee is motivated to work to fulfill their unmet need or their family’s need of physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.

Let’s shed a light on the statistics reported for sexual assaults from various news webpages concerning Uber rides:

· Prajakta Dhopade is a content editor stated that in 2018, in the United States, Uber reported 3000 sexual assaults in Uber rides. Additionally, the article also states that some assaults occurred between Uber rides. The article is titled as “Uber reports more than 3,000 sexual assaults on 2018 rides.”

“This chart shows reported incidents of sexual assault received by Uber in the US.”

· Sara Ashley O’Brien is a CNN Business writer who revealed on CNN Business that in December 2019, Uber received 3824 reports of sexual assaults in the United States. In the same article it is also stated that “about 91% of the victims of rape were riders and about 7% of the victims were drivers. Women made up 81% of the victims while men comprised about 15%.” The article is titled as “Uber releases safety data: 998 sexual assault incidents including 141 rape reports in 2020.”

· On CTV News Toronto webpage, Content Writer Joanna Lavoie reported that a woman was sexually assaulted while she was asleep in vehicle. The article is titled as “Police say there may be more victims after woman sexually assaulted during Uber ride in Toronto.”

· CBC News states that a man was charged with an alleged sexual assault of a female passengers. The article was written by Jason Viau who is a reporter for CBC News based in Windsor, Ontario. The article is titled as “Uber driver charged following alleged sexual assault of passenger, Windsor police say.”

· On Business Insider, Rosie Bradbury, wrote in an article titled as “More than 2 in 5 sexual assaults involving Uber rides were perpetrated by the passenger, latest data shows,” that nearly 40 percent of the assaults are perpetrated by passengers as the title implies.

· As per Best Referral Driver, it is stated that, “in 2019, an analysis by CNN revealed that at least 103 Uber drivers had been accused of sexually assaulting or abusing their passengers over a period of four years.” The article is titled “Is Uber Safe In 2023? (For Passengers, Females & Drivers).

The internet is filled with news articles concerning sexual assaults from Uber transport. What is horrific, is that even after imposing several safety measures, women of the world are yet unsafe, and the perpetrators don’t seem to understand the consequences of executing such behavior.

Uber has taken numerous safety measures for women riders. Such features include as follows:

· Partnering with women’s safety groups in Canada such as YWCA Canada, Woman Abuse Council of Toronto (WomanAct), Ending Violence Association of BC (EVA BC), and Le Chaînon.

· Uber has also partnered with local partners, who deals with women safety, in countries such as United States, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, United Kingdom, India, and Mexico.

· Uber launched Women Rider Preference which allows women to receive ride requests only from women drivers.

· Uber partners with advocacy groups, law enforcement, and safety experts to raise awareness of how to prevent sexual assault and stay safe.

Throughout this blog post, I’ve had the opportunity to list related articles, statistics, risks, and safety measures for women riders. Although it may seem that my stance in this blog post is biased towards Uber, it is not completely true. We may say that Uber has also accomplished in making a better world for us by providing their services to communities across the globe. A few of the benefits are listed as follows:

· Door-to-door convenience.

· Became a prime example of a gig economy at work.

· Uber knows where the passenger is located through the app.

· In 2020, Uber unlocked $6.5 billion in economic value for Canada.

· The on-demand economy has helped make everyday life easier for Canadians.

· Uber also partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in the US and DrinkWise in Australia to promote awareness of the options available to people travelling home after a night out.

As we can deduce that Uber is quite advantageous for communities. However, it cannot avoid the fact that riding in Uber has dangers if the pre-riding safety measures are left unchecked. There are quite many consequences of sexual assault during Uber rides. The assailant can be either the Uber driver or the passenger, sexual assault cases impact the “culture and reputation” of the company. According to NPR, which is an independent, non-profit media organization, in an article, released on December 19, 2019, titled as “Uber To Pay $4.4 Million To Employees Who Were Sexually Harassed At Work.” Uber must oblige to pay top dollar to employees who were victims of sexual harassment. This article was written by Shannon Bond who “is a correspondent at NPR.”

Even employees at Uber who raise their voices against injustice, the company doesn’t care much about the incidents. As such was the story of an ex-employee Susan Fowler, who was working at Uber as an Engineer. She published a post in February 2017 about “her experience with sexual harassment and gender discrimination.” She pointed out that her manager was one at fault for sexually harassing her, over the time, she “noticed a peculiar car parked outside [her] house. When [she] walked from [her] house, she’d often see the same car drive past her.” Based on what she claimed in her article, we can deduce that speaking against Uber’s employees’ inhuman behavior can be traumatizing and it is no guarantee that even after lashing out or grieving, the victims could achieve justice. Furthermore, due to Susan’s initial post, the company started “180’s days of change” campaign to reshape the company’s image. The outcome was that the CEO Travis Kalanick resigned “at the behest of five investors.”

To conclude my blog post, I had many questions for class discussion; however, I will pose only five imperative questions:

1. Why do human beings assault sexually and take unfair advantages of the people who are merely trying to return home safely?

2. When will lawmakers & authorities take severe measures such that the perpetrator would think multiple times before executing a sexual assault to another individual?

3. What will it take to make sure that people are safe to take a ride in Uber Technologies, Inc.?

4. What measures could be taken to make the ride safer and comfortable?

5. Is there any other option to replace Uber or other companies providing such services?

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