Uber is racing ahead to become the go-to multi-modal transportation service. On the heels of a multimillion-dollar acquisition of JUMP bikes, the launch of UberRENT, its permit application to deploy electric scooters in San Francisco and a partnership with public transit company Masabi, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has tapped Rachel Holt to lead the company’s New Modalities organization.
As head of New Modalities, Holt will be responsible for the ramp-up and onboarding of additional mobility services — be that public transit integration, scooters, car rentals, bikes and whatever else Uber has up its sleeves. That means she’ll also work closely with JUMP CEO Ryan Rzepecki.
“I’m excited to bring my learnings and experiences scaling Uber’s rides business to bear as we incubate and build new ways to move around the more than 600 cities we serve,” Holt said in an emailed statement to TechCrunch.
Holt has worked at Uber since October 2011, when the company was live in just three cities. In May 2016, she became VP and regional general manager of Uber’s operations in the U.S. and Canada.
The move signals the seriousness of Uber’s efforts to expand beyond traditional ridesharing, and even autonomous ridesharing. Khosrowshahi has repeatedly voiced his intent for Uber to become a multi-modal transportation company, so the creating of a new department is not all that surprising. And as Uber gets closer to its 2019 initial public offering, the company is clearly trying to highlight its variety of potential revenue streams.
