It has been talked about a little, but the impact can be huge. Think about the amount of data that Uber collects on a daily basis. Not only data from drivers, but also from the riders themselves. Data on where people are requesting rides, the times of those requests, where people are going, how much riders pay to use Uber, response times from drivers to riders, how long drivers stay online, whether or not drivers stay in one place while driving or drive around looking for that ping.
All of this info can be very helpful to cities who are trying to manage growth and their transportation needs. I would imaging that cities are frothing at the mouth to get their hands on this data. Well it now looks like Uber is working with the city of Cincinnati to hand over some of that coveted data.
I personally think this is one of Uber's end games. Yes, they provide fast inexpensive transportation to millions of people, but they are a data collection company, and they are going to try to cash in on that information. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Check out the article from the Washington Post about how Uber and Cincinnati are working together on this topic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dr-gridlock/wp/2018/01/30/uber-is-giving-cincinnati-access-to-the-data-so-many-cities-covet/?utm_term=.beed4bcf6b32
