Uber Getting into Car Rental Business

Ride-sharing service Uber revealed Wednesday it is adding new options that include a car-sharing service and a way to purchase train tickets.

According to Reuters.com, Uber will launch its new service in San Francisco later in April, dubbed Uber Rent. The new option will be part of an agreement with peer-to-peer car-sharing service Getaround, which offers privately owned cars for rent.

Uber Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said the decision was made to expand into the car-sharing service industry due to the company’s desire to offer a variety of transit options and “solve the issue of car ownership.”

“We’re going beyond cars,” Khosrowshahi told Reuters. “We are about mobility - making mobility available to everyone, everywhere. We want to be part of the solution.”

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Uber also announced a partnership with Masabi to offer customers the chance to book and use tickets for train, bus and ferry services through the app. Uber Bike by JUMP will also expand to Washington, D.C. following a successful rollout in San Francisco earlier this year.

“That’s going to include bikes, and that’s going to include buses and subways, etc., and we want to be a part of the solution,” Khosrowshahi continued. “As an asset class, cars are very inefficient. We have to work together to make sure that living in a city... doesn’t require you to own a car.”