Uber Will Revive Old Idea, but Mostly for Events

• Uber will resurrect shuttle service for sporting and concert events, partnering with Live Nation.

• Uber Eats will partner with Costco to offer its food delivery service to non-members.

• The ride-hailing app has also revealed a new program for caregivers.

After taking a stab at replacing traditional taxi companies, Uber could now looking to do the same for public transportation.

The ride-hailing company famous for employing independent contractors instead of employees plans to offer passengers booking options for shuttles to and from airports, sports games, and other popular events it lists on its app, for which it has partnered with Live Nation.

The advantage for riders, according to Uber, will be much cheaper fares than for individual Uber cars, with shuttle buses designed to hold dozens of people. And they will actually be driven by a person with a commercial driver's license, in case you're anxious about whether the person behind the wheel has done this before.

"Uber Shuttle lets you reserve a seat on a local shuttle service, along with others heading to the same destination, all for a fraction of the price of an UberX," the company said.

So this will be a lot like ride-pooling, and local fleet companies will be providing the drivers.

In fact, you may even remember Uber trying something like this before. There was indeed a service called Uber Pool in the Before Times, now renamed UberX, along with Uber Hop.

Those services were phased out, at least in name, with Uber Shuttle now designed to be limited to events, perhaps assuring higher passenger count and therefore more reliable revenues.

One of the first venues served by Uber Shuttle will be Miami's Hard Rock Stadium, as well as the Formula 1 Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.

Uber also revealed a new feature dubbed UberX Share that will let passengers schedule a shared ride in advance, anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 days in advance. The value proposition for passengers is that it will let them save 25% compared to UberX.

The ride-hailing app also announced a handful of other new programs, including a partnership between Uber East and Costco—for those times you cannot be bothered to go to Costco which is full of things you can just grab off the shelf. (55-gallon drums of ketchup are heavy, we have to admit).

The novelty of this program is that this will extend Uber Eats to Costco even for those who are not Costco members.

One additional program Uber announced is for caregivers, allowing Uber users to add them to their profiles, thus permitting them to schedule rides for people they serve.

"From there, caregivers will be able to easily book their loved ones' rides to doctor appointments, purchase medical supplies and over-the-counter items, and even order their groceries," Uber adds.

Will robotaxis, operated by Uber and others, eventually replace most human drivers by the end of the decade, or will this process take far longer? Let us know in the comments below.