TED2016
Travis Kalanick: Uber's plan to get more people into fewer cars
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Uber didn't start out with grand ambitions to cut congestion and pollution. But as the company took off, co-founder Travis Kalanick wondered if there was a way to get people using Uber along the same routes to share rides, reducing costs and carbon footprint along the way. The result: uberPOOL, the company's carpooling service, which in its first eight months took 7.9 million miles off the roads and 1,400 metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the air in Los Angeles. Now, Kalanick says carpooling could work for commuters in the suburbs, too. "With the technology in our pockets today, and a little smart regulation," he says, "we can turn every car into a shared car, and we can reclaim our cities starting today."
Travis Kalanick - Entrepreneur
As Uber's co-founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick is disrupting an entrenched industry and reinventing urban transportation. Full bio
As Uber's co-founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick is disrupting an entrenched industry and reinventing urban transportation. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Today I wanted to --
well, this morning --
well, this morning --
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I want to talk about the future
of human-driven transportation;
of human-driven transportation;
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about how we can cut congestion,
pollution and parking
pollution and parking
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by getting more people into fewer cars;
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and how we can do it
with the technology that's in our pockets.
with the technology that's in our pockets.
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And yes, I'm talking about smartphones ...
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not self-driving cars.
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But to get started we've got
to go back over 100 years.
to go back over 100 years.
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Because it turns out
there was an Uber way before Uber.
there was an Uber way before Uber.
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And if it had survived,
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the future of transportation
would probably already be here.
would probably already be here.
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So let me introduce you to the jitney.
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In 1914 it was created or invented
by a guy named LP Draper.
by a guy named LP Draper.
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He was a car salesman from LA,
and he had an idea.
and he had an idea.
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Well, he was cruising around
downtown Los Angeles,
downtown Los Angeles,
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my hometown,
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and he saw trolleys
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with long lines of people trying
to get to where they wanted to go.
to get to where they wanted to go.
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He said, well, why don't
I just put a sign on my car
I just put a sign on my car
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that takes people wherever
they want to go for a jitney --
they want to go for a jitney --
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that was slang for a nickel.
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And so people jumped on board,
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and not just in Los Angeles
but across the country.
but across the country.
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And within one year,
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by 1915,
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there were 50,000
rides per day in Seattle,
rides per day in Seattle,
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45,000 rides per day in Kansas
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and 150,000 rides per day in Los Angeles.
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To give you some perspective,
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Uber in Los Angeles
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is doing 157,000 rides per day, today ...
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100 years later.
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And so these are the trolley guys,
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the existing transportation
monopoly at the time.
monopoly at the time.
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They were clearly not happy
about the jitney juggernaut.
about the jitney juggernaut.
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And so they got to work
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and they went to cities across the country
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and got regulations put in place
to slow down the growth of the jitney.
to slow down the growth of the jitney.
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And there were all kinds of regulations.
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There were licenses --
often they were pricey.
often they were pricey.
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In some cities,
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if you were a jitney driver,
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you were required to be
in the jitney for 16 hours a day.
in the jitney for 16 hours a day.
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In other cities,
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they required two jitney
drivers for one jitney.
drivers for one jitney.
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But there was a really
interesting regulation
interesting regulation
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which was they had to
put a backseat light --
put a backseat light --
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install it in every Jitney --
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to stop a new pernicious innovation
which they called spooning.
which they called spooning.
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(Laughter)
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All right. So what happened?
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Well, within a year
this thing had taken off.
this thing had taken off.
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But the jitney, by 1919, was regulated
completely out of existence.
completely out of existence.
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That's unfortunate ...
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because, well, when you can't share a car,
then you have to own one.
then you have to own one.
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And car ownership skyrocketed
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and it's no wonder that by 2007,
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there was a car for every man,
woman and child in the United States.
woman and child in the United States.
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And that phenomenon had gone global.
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In China by 2011,
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there were more car sales
happening in China than in the US.
happening in China than in the US.
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Now, all this private ownership
of course had a public cost.
of course had a public cost.
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In the US, we spend
7 billion hours a year,
7 billion hours a year,
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wasted, sitting in traffic.
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160 billion dollars in lost productivity,
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of course also sitting in traffic,
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and one-fifth of all
of our carbon footprint
of our carbon footprint
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is spewed out in the air
by those cars that we're sitting in.
by those cars that we're sitting in.
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Now, that's only four percent
of our problem though.
of our problem though.
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Because if you have to own a car
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then that means 96 percent of the time
your car is sitting idle.
your car is sitting idle.
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And so, up to 30 percent
of our land and our space
of our land and our space
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is used storing these hunks of steel.
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We even have skyscrapers built for cars.
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That's the world we live in today.
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Now, cities have been dealing
with this problem for decades.
with this problem for decades.
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It's called mass transit.
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And even in a city like New York City,
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one of the most densely
populated in the world
populated in the world
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and one of the most sophisticated
mass transit systems in the world,
mass transit systems in the world,
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there are still 2.5 million cars
that go over those bridges every day.
that go over those bridges every day.
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Why is that?
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Well, it's because mass transit
hasn't yet figured out
hasn't yet figured out
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how to get to everybody's doorstep.
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And so back in San Francisco,
where I live,
where I live,
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the situation's much worse,
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in fact, much worse around the world.
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And so the beginning
of Uber in 2010 was --
of Uber in 2010 was --
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well, we just wanted
to push a button and get a ride.
to push a button and get a ride.
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We didn't have any grand ambitions.
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But it just turned out
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that lots of people wanted
to push a button and get a ride,
to push a button and get a ride,
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and ultimately what we started to see
was a lot of duplicate rides.
was a lot of duplicate rides.
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We saw a lot of people
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pushing the same button at the same time
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going essentially to the same place.
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And so we started thinking about,
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well, how do we make those two trips
and turn them into one.
and turn them into one.
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Because if we did,
that ride would be a lot cheaper --
that ride would be a lot cheaper --
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up to 50 percent cheaper --
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and of course for the city
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you've got a lot more people
and a lot fewer cars.
and a lot fewer cars.
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And so the big question for us was:
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would it work?
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Could you have a cheaper ride
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cheap enough that people
would be willing to share it?
would be willing to share it?
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And the answer, fortunately,
is a resounding yes.
is a resounding yes.
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In San Francisco,
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before uberPOOL, we had --
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well, everybody would take their car
wherever the heck they wanted.
wherever the heck they wanted.
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And the bright colors
is where we have the most cars.
is where we have the most cars.
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And once we introduced uberPOOL,
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well, you see there's not
as many bright colors.
as many bright colors.
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More people getting around
the city in fewer cars,
the city in fewer cars,
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taking cars off the road.
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It looks like uberPOOL is working.
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And so we rolled it out in Los Angeles
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eight months ago.
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And since then, we've taken
7.9 million miles off the roads
7.9 million miles off the roads
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and we've taken 1.4 thousand
metric tons of CO2 out of the air.
metric tons of CO2 out of the air.
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But the part that I'm really --
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(Applause)
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But my favorite statistic --
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remember, I'm from LA,
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I spent years of my life
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sitting behind the wheel,
going, "How do we fix this?" --
going, "How do we fix this?" --
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my favorite part
is that eight months later,
is that eight months later,
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we have added 100,000 new people
that are carpooling every week.
that are carpooling every week.
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Now, in China everything is supersized,
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and so we're doing 15 million
uberPOOL trips per month,
uberPOOL trips per month,
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that's 500,000 per day.
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And of course we're seeing
that exponential growth happen.
that exponential growth happen.
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In fact, we're seeing it in LA, too.
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And when I talk to my team,
we don't talk about,
we don't talk about,
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"Hey, well, 100,000 people
carpooling every week and we're done."
carpooling every week and we're done."
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How do we get that to a million?
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And in China, well,
that could be several million.
that could be several million.
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And so uberPOOL is a very great
solution for urban carpooling.
solution for urban carpooling.
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But what about the suburbs?
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This is the street
where I grew up in Los Angeles,
where I grew up in Los Angeles,
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it's actually a suburb
called Northridge, California,
called Northridge, California,
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and, well --
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look, those mailboxes,
they kind of just go on forever.
they kind of just go on forever.
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And every morning at about the same time,
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cars roll of out their driveway,
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most of them, one person in the car,
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and they go to work,
they go to their place of work.
they go to their place of work.
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So the question for us is:
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well, how do we turn
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all of these commuter cars --
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and literally there's
tens of millions of them --
tens of millions of them --
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how do we turn all these
commuter cars into shared cars?
commuter cars into shared cars?
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Well, we have something for this that we
recently launched called uberCOMMUTE.
recently launched called uberCOMMUTE.
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You get up in the morning,
get ready for work, get your coffee,
get ready for work, get your coffee,
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go to your car
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and you light up the Uber app,
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and all of a sudden,
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you become an Uber driver.
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And we'll match you up
with one of your neighbors
with one of your neighbors
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on your way to work
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and it's a really great thing.
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There's just one hitch ...
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it's called regulation.
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So 54 cents a mile, what is that?
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Well, that is what the US government
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has determined that the cost
of owning a car is per mile.
of owning a car is per mile.
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You can pick up anybody
in the United States
in the United States
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and take them wherever they want to go
at a moment's notice,
at a moment's notice,
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for 54 cents a mile or less.
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But if you charge 60 cents a mile,
you're a criminal.
you're a criminal.
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But what if for 60 cents a mile
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we could get half a million more people
carpooling in Los Angeles?
carpooling in Los Angeles?
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And what if at 60 cents a mile
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we could get 50 million people
carpooling in the United States?
carpooling in the United States?
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If we could,
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it's obviously something we should do.
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And so it goes back
to the lesson of the jitney.
to the lesson of the jitney.
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If by 1915 this thing was taking off,
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imagine without
the regulations that happened,
the regulations that happened,
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if that thing could just keep going.
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How would our cities be different today?
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Would we have parks
in the place of parking lots?
in the place of parking lots?
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Well, we lost that chance.
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But technology has given us
another opportunity.
another opportunity.
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Now, I'm as excited as anybody else
about self-driving cars
about self-driving cars
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but do we have to really wait
five, 10 or even 20 years
five, 10 or even 20 years
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to make our new cities a reality?
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With the technology in our pockets today,
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and a little smart regulation,
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we can turn every car into a shared car,
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and we can reclaim our cities
starting today.
starting today.
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Thank you.
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(Applause)
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Chris Anderson: Travis, thank you.
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Travis Kalanick: Thank you.
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CA: You know -- I mean the company
you've built is absolutely astounding.
you've built is absolutely astounding.
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You only just talked
about a small part of it here --
about a small part of it here --
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a powerful part --
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the idea of turning cars
into public transport like that,
into public transport like that,
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it's cool.
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But I've got a couple other questions
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because I know they're
out there on people's minds.
out there on people's minds.
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So first of all, last week I think it was,
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I switched on my phone
and tried to book an Uber
and tried to book an Uber
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and I couldn't find the app.
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You had this very radical,
very bold, brave redesign.
very bold, brave redesign.
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TK: Sure.
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CA: How did it go?
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Did you notice other people
not finding the app that day?
not finding the app that day?
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Are you going to win people over
for this redesign?
for this redesign?
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TK: Well, first I should
probably just say,
probably just say,
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well, what we were trying to accomplish.
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And I think if you know
a little bit about our history,
a little bit about our history,
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it makes a lot more sense.
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Which is, when we first got started,
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it was just black cars.
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It was literally you push a button
and get an S-Class.
and get an S-Class.
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And so what we did
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was almost what I would call
an immature version of a luxury brand
an immature version of a luxury brand
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that looked like a badge on a luxury car.
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And as we've gone worldwide
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and gone from S-Classes
to auto rickshaws in India,
to auto rickshaws in India,
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it became something
that was important for us
that was important for us
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to be more accessible,
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to be more hyperlocal,
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to be about the cities we were in
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and that's what you see
with the patterns and colors.
with the patterns and colors.
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And to be more iconic,
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because a U doesn't mean
anything in Sanskrit,
anything in Sanskrit,
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and a U doesn't mean anything in Mandarin.
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And so that was
a little bit what it was about.
a little bit what it was about.
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Now, when you first
roll out something like that,
roll out something like that,
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I mean, your hands are sweating,
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you've got --
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you know, you're a little worried.
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What we saw is a lot of people --
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actually, at the beginning,
we saw a lot more people opening the app
we saw a lot more people opening the app
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because they were curious
what they would find when they opened it.
what they would find when they opened it.
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And our numbers were slightly up
from what we expected.
from what we expected.
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CA: OK, that's cool.
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Now, so you, yourself,
are something of an enigma, I would say.
are something of an enigma, I would say.
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Your supporters and investors,
who have been with you the whole way,
who have been with you the whole way,
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believe that the only chance
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of sort of taking on
the powerful, entrenched interests
the powerful, entrenched interests
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of taxi industry and so forth,
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is to have someone who is
a fierce, relentless competitor,
a fierce, relentless competitor,
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which you've certainly proved to be.
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Some people feel you've almost
taken that culture too far,
taken that culture too far,
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and you know --
like a year or two ago
like a year or two ago
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there was a huge controversy
where a lot of women got upset.
where a lot of women got upset.
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How did it feel like
inside the company during that period?
inside the company during that period?
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Did you notice a loss of business?
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Did you learn anything from that?
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TK: Well, look, I think --
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I've been an entrepreneur
since I've been in high school
since I've been in high school
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and you have --
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In various different ways
an entrepreneur will see hard times
an entrepreneur will see hard times
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and for us,
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it was about a year and a half ago,
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and for us it was hard times, too.
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Now, inside, we felt like --
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I guess at the end of the day
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we felt like we were
good people doing good work,
good people doing good work,
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but on the outside that wasn't evident.
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And so there was a lot that we had to do
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to sort of --
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We'd gone from a very small company --
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I mean if you go literally
two and a half years ago,
two and a half years ago,
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our company was 400 people,
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and today it's 6,500.
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And so when you go through that growth,
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you have to sort of cement
your cultural values
your cultural values
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and talk about them all of the time.
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And make sure that people
are constantly checking
are constantly checking
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to say, "Are we good people
doing good work?"
doing good work?"
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And if you check those boxes,
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the next part of that
is making sure you're telling your story.
is making sure you're telling your story.
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And I think we learned a lot of lessons
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but I think at the end of it
we came out stronger.
we came out stronger.
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But it was certainly a difficult period.
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CA: It seems to me, everywhere you turn,
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you're facing people
who occasionally give you a hard time.
who occasionally give you a hard time.
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Some Uber drivers
in New York and elsewhere
in New York and elsewhere
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are mad as hell now
because you changed the fees
because you changed the fees
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and they can barely -- they claim --
barely afford the deal anymore.
barely afford the deal anymore.
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How --
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You know, you said
that you started this originally --
that you started this originally --
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just the coolness of pressing a button
and summoning a ride.
and summoning a ride.
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This thing's taken off,
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you're affecting the whole global
economy, basically, at this point.
economy, basically, at this point.
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You're being forced to be,
whether you want it or not,
whether you want it or not,
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a kind of global visionary
who's changing the world.
who's changing the world.
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I mean -- who are you?
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Do you want that?
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Are you ready to go with that
and be what that takes?
and be what that takes?
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TK: Well, there's a few things
packed in that question, so --
packed in that question, so --
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(Laughter)
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First is on the pricing side --
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I mean, keep in mind, right?
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UberX, when we first started,
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was literally 10 or 15 percent cheaper
than our black car product.
than our black car product.
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It's now
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in many cities, half the price of a taxi.
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And we have all the data to show
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that the divers are making more per hour
than they would as taxi drivers.
than they would as taxi drivers.
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What happens is when the price goes down,
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people are more likely to take Uber
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at different times of the day
than they otherwise would have,
than they otherwise would have,
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and they're more likely to use it
in places they wouldn't have before.
in places they wouldn't have before.
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And what that means for a driver
is wherever he or she drops somebody off,
is wherever he or she drops somebody off,
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they're much more likely
to get a pickup and get back in.
to get a pickup and get back in.
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And so what that means
is more trips per hour,
is more trips per hour,
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more minutes of the hour
where they're productive
where they're productive
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and actually, earnings come up.
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And we have cities where we've done
literally five or six price cuts
literally five or six price cuts
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and have seen those price cuts
go up over time.
go up over time.
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So even in New York --
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We have a blog post
we call "4 Septembers" --
we call "4 Septembers" --
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compare the earnings
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September after September after September.
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Same month every year.
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And we see the earnings going up over time
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as the price comes down.
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And there's a perfect price point --
you can't go down forever.
you can't go down forever.
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And in those places
where we bring the price down
where we bring the price down
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but we don't see those earnings pop,
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we bring the prices back up.
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So that addresses that first part.
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And then the enigma and all of this --
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I mean, the kind of entrepreneur I am
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is one that gets really excited
about solving hard problems.
about solving hard problems.
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And the way I like to describe it
is it's kind of like a math professor.
is it's kind of like a math professor.
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You know? If a math professor
doesn't have hard problems to solve,
doesn't have hard problems to solve,
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that's a really sad math professor.
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And so at Uber we like the hard problems
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and we like getting excited
about those and solving them.
about those and solving them.
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But we don't want just any math problem,
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we want the hardest ones
that we can possibly find,
that we can possibly find,
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and we want the one that if you solve it,
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there's a little bit of a wow factor.
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CA: In a couple years' time --
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say five years' time, I don't know when --
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you roll out your incredible
self-driving cars,
self-driving cars,
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at probably a lower cost
than you currently pay for an Uber ride.
than you currently pay for an Uber ride.
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What do you say to your army
of a million drivers plus at that time?
of a million drivers plus at that time?
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TK: Explain that again --
at which time?
at which time?
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CA: At the time when
self-driving cars are coming --
self-driving cars are coming --
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TK: Sure, sure, sure.
Sorry, I missed that.
Sorry, I missed that.
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CA: What do you say to a driver?
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TK: Well, look, I think
the first part is it's going to take --
the first part is it's going to take --
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it's likely going to take a lot longer
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than I think some of the hype
or media might expect.
or media might expect.
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That's part one.
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Part two is it's going to also take --
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there's going to be a long transition.
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These cars will work
in certain places and not in others.
in certain places and not in others.
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For us it's an interesting
challenge, right?
challenge, right?
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Because, well --
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Google's been investing
in this since 2007,
in this since 2007,
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Tesla's going to be doing it,
Apple's going to be doing it,
Apple's going to be doing it,
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the manufacturers
are going to be doing it.
are going to be doing it.
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This is a world that's going to exist,
and for good reason.
and for good reason.
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A million people die a year in cars.
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And we already looked at the billions
or even trillions of hours worldwide
or even trillions of hours worldwide
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that people are spending sitting in them,
driving frustrated, anxious.
driving frustrated, anxious.
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And think about the quality
of life that improves
of life that improves
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when you give people their time back
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and it's not so anxiety-ridden.
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So I think there's a lot of good.
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And so the way we think about it
is that it's a challenge,
is that it's a challenge,
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but one for optimistic leadership,
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Where instead of resisting --
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resisting technology,
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maybe like the taxi industry,
or the trolley industry --
or the trolley industry --
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we have to embrace it
or be a part of the future.
or be a part of the future.
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But how do we optimistically
lead through it?
lead through it?
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Are there ways to partner with cities?
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Are there ways to have education systems,
vocational training, etc.,
vocational training, etc.,
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for that transition period.
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It will take a lot longer
than I think we all expect,
than I think we all expect,
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especially that transition period.
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But it is a world that's going to exist,
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and it is going to be a better world.
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CA: Travis, what you're building
is absolutely incredible
is absolutely incredible
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and I'm hugely grateful to you
for coming to TED and sharing so openly.
for coming to TED and sharing so openly.
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Thank you so much.
TK: Thank you very much.
TK: Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Travis Kalanick - EntrepreneurAs Uber's co-founder and former CEO, Travis Kalanick is disrupting an entrenched industry and reinventing urban transportation.
Why you should listen
In 2010, entrepreneur and angel investor Travis Kalanick, with his co-founder Garrett Camp, took a niche product -- Uber -- and turned it into a global platform that has transformed the way we move around the world.
In 68 countries and 360 cities, riders can push a button and get a ride, and drivers have a flexible, independent way to make money. With big investments in China, India, carpooling, self-driving cars and logistics, Uber's future promises to be as headline-grabbing as its past, continuing to reinvent urban transportation as we know it.
Travis Kalanick | Speaker | TED.com