Ridesharing giant Uber has launched its first bus service in Europe.
It chose the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to introduce UberShuttle, which will allow passengers to reserve a seat on a minibus.
Marketed as a “stress-free” daily commute, the service appears to rival Ukraine’s yellow minibuses which riders can flag down for a lift.
UberShuttle operates in other cities, such as Cairo, Egypt, but this is believed to be its first launch in Europe.
A group of top officials from the US embassy, Ukranian and Kyiv governments joined Uber’s regional manager for the shuttle’s rollout this week.
Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, who was present at the launch, tweeted that Ukraine was becoming a centre of “digital innovations”.
UberShuttle is starting as a pilot program with four routes within Kyiv at a price between 15 and 30 Ukranian hryvnias [roughly €0.5-€1] depending on the distance.
The US embassy in Kyiv tweeted they were “glad to see US businesses providing new services to the Ukrainian public!”
