Phil Ammann
Last year has certainly been a wild ride for Uber, and now it’s giving something back to Tampa.
The San Francisco-based ride-sharing company is celebrating its first anniversary in the Tampa Bay area with an email to supporters promising to share a portion of each ride to Feeding America Tampa Bay.
According to the Uber Blog: “We’ve felt so much Uber love from the Tampa Bay community, so we’re celebrating our birthday by giving back.”
Uber’s goal is to help alleviate hunger in the Tampa Bay area with at least 35,000 meals on its local birthday.
Through midnight Friday, Uber donated $1 per ride, by each rider choosing the birthday option to help feed those in need.
To make a donation, users only need to request a ride by tapping the Birthday option on the Uber app. For each ride, $1 goes to Feeding America Tampa Bay.
Of course, as Uber “feels the love” from loyal followers in Tampa Bay, they are not getting as much from the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission. This week, the PTC sued Uber — as well as several driver-partners — arguing the company is not obeying established rules for taxis, limos, and other transportation services.
Rival ridesharing company Lyft, also in Tampa for about a year, is not included in the lawsuit.
Suing a company that feeds the poor? Not quite the best strategy for Hillsborough County, is it?
