How Uber Is Using Motorcycles To Navigate Across LATAM

It's been nearly a decade since the launch of Uber's motorcycle service, Uber Moto, in Thailand (Toor, 2016). That's right - Uber offers motorcycle rides for a fraction of the price of car rides. While this may come as a surprise to the average United States consumer, who is unaware of this offering, the service has become wildly popular in markets where motorcycles are more prominent means of transportation. In recent years (Santa Rosa, 2022), Uber Moto expanded to Latin America, a region where motorcycles account for a significant portion of urban commutes (Yañez-Pagans et al., 2019).

Motorcycles are cheaper than cars, both to acquire and to maintain, which makes the vehicle more attractive in medium- to low-income nations. On top of that, reasons like saving time, avoiding traffic congestion, and reduced fuel costs contribute significantly to the prevalence of motorcycles in LATAM (Hagen et al., 2016).

Latin America's motorcycle taxi market, known as "mototaxis" in many regions, has, for some time, been affected by regulatory hurdles. While the growth potential is undeniable - attested to by the recent boom of Uber Motos (Santa Rosa, 2022) - navigating the continent's diverse legal landscape requires a nuanced and careful approach.

Moto Market Potential: An Agile Solution for Packed Cities

Latin America presents a fertile ground for motorcycle taxis. Urban congestion is a dreaded issue in major cities, and mototaxis offer a faster, more affordable alternative to traditional cars and ride-sharing services. They have historically solved multiple urban commuter pain points beyond just affordability and skipping heavy traffic: in some densely populated neighborhoods with steep hills and narrow streets, where access by car is limited, they are often the only way to get in and out.

The agility and practicality of motorcycles can often be at the expense of personal safety: motorcycles are the leading cause of traffic accidents in some LATAM countries (Platonow, 2015), and the victims are often the riders themselves. This is amplified by divergent traffic etiquettes, and motorcyclists infamously partake in risky driving (Monteiro, 2023) behaviors in the region.

While in some US states lane splitting is illegal (Steinger, 2022), and at least controversial in many others, it's commonplace in multiple Latin American countries - and often tolerated even when it is barred by the law. One American LinkedIn user remembered his first time trying mototaxi services in Brazil, and described the precaution-free experience: "Basically get on the back of a dudes motocross-style bike, hold onto the back handles, and hope for the best.”

Still, the vehicle is an extremely common option. In more motorcycle-heavy countries like Brazil, 1 out of every 3 municipalities has more motorcycles than cars (Croquer, 2024), a phenomenon that is especially common in smaller cities and rural towns.

The Arrival and Success of Uber Moto

The mototaxi market has historically been, at large, an informal one (Castillo Osorio, 2010). Noticing this, Uber seized the opportunity to launch their already successful project. Uber started a phased rollout in the continent, piloting Uber Moto in a small number of cities in Brazil and Mexico in 2020, slowly expanding to larger markets in the subsequent years: growing across Mexico in 2022, and only arriving in major Brazilian cities like Rio and São Paulo in 2023.

The service is currently operating in multiple other countries in the area, including Guatemala, Paraguay, El Salvador, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic (Ormedod & Dib, 2022). As local regulations vary, however, so does Uber's approach to Moto: while some local websites openly advertise the service, others do not.

The novelty quickly became the norm, and the service's lower fees, agility, and familiar "mototaxi" face were so attractive that, regardless of government bans, it quickly became a fan favorite. Uber Moto's effect went as far as to bring the mototaxi option to audiences that wouldn't previously opt for motorcycle rides. An example of this is Paolla Oliveira, an A-list Brazilian actress who recently went viral on a popular podcast by telling a story of how she got an Uber driver to switch from car to motorcycle to beat traffic and get her to an airport in time.

Uber Moto also brought another unexpected advantage to underrepresented audiences. In a region where urban violence is prevalent, some women reported feeling safer in a motorcycle app ride than a car app ride, as they feel as though they are at the mercy of the driver in a car, and there is little they can do to get people's attention and leave the ride if they find themselves in a dangerous situation (Ormedod & Dib, 2022).

The same opinion is shared by female users of 99Moto (Grecco, 2024), a brazilian ride-sharing company that operates similarly to Uber and that followed in its footsteps in offering mototaxi options. According to the report, women currently make up the majority of the user base for 99Moto.

Navigating Local Regulation

Despite the success, Uber's expansion hasn't been completely smooth. Motorcycle taxi regulations vary widely across Latin America. In some countries, mototaxis operate in a legal gray area, while others have outright bans. As an example, the launch of Uber Moto in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro faced immediate pushback from city authorities who had previously prohibited motorcycle taxis (Costa, 2023), although the street service continued to happen informally.

According to a report by Rest Of World, as long as legal gray areas exist, services like Uber Moto will continue to expand mototaxi offerings in the region (Ormedod & Dib, 2022). The same report stated that public demand for the service has become so great that Picap, another Uber-like company that offers mototaxi rides, resumed operations in Mexico even after being banned from multiple other countries due to local laws (Colchado, 2019).

The increased risk of motorcycle riding also transfers to Uber Moto and similar apps: accidents involving app motorcycle rides happen once a week on average in some capitals (Menezes & Avila, 2023), often resulting in fatalities. This type of risk increases the pressure on companies like Uber to cease operations in areas where mototaxi is not officially permitted and forces authorities to enforce bans.

Some of Uber's strategies to navigate these complexities have revolved around requiring actions from drivers. Among its safety requirements are demanding that all Moto drivers offer helmets, and also that the equipment is sanitized between rides.

However, the company also opted for direct user support in different ways: beyond just requiring that drivers take necessary precautions to ensure passenger safety, Uber also offers insurance in case of accidents.

Other challenges and final thoughts

Local regulations haven't been the only hurdles with Uber moto. The low fees and relaxed rules around mototaxis carried over into Uber Moto, and the platform has observed what some people call “Uberization” (Soares, 2023): Uber car drivers in some places in LATAM watched a significant decrease in revenue with the launch of Uber Moto, and have struggled to make ends meet, generating dissatisfaction.

In summary, Uber's journey into the Latin American mototaxi market has been bumpy but promising. Navigating the complex legal landscape while adapting offerings to local needs and unexpected demands is vital to success. As the landscape continues to evolve, companies like Uber, that strategically navigate regulatory challenges, will likely continue to redefine urban mobility and accessibility across Latin America.