Uber launches parking reservations after its SpotHero deal

Uber began letting customers book and pay for parking spots in major US cities on Monday, roughly nine months after it bought parking app SpotHero. That February acquisition handed Uber a network spanning 13,000 garages, lots and valet operations in more than 400 cities, the company said.

For now, the rollout targets commuters driving their own cars, starting in 15 US cities — Washington, DC, Seattle, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Nashville, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, San Diego, Atlanta, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. Uber also intends to put those same spots to work for the dozens of self-driving partners it already has, using them as holding points where robotaxis can wait between trips — a way to cut “deadheading,” the miles a car covers without a paying passenger or cargo aboard, and ease congestion.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi flagged the commuter push earlier this month, telling Uber’s third-quarter earnings call, “Commute is one of our largest categories.” He added that offering “an Uber to work, a pass to avoid surge, and parking if they want it when they want to drive is a great example of us building out our inventory of services to the commuter who is a top customer for us.”

The parking launch extends Uber’s push to keep users inside its app beyond rides — into food and grocery delivery, package delivery, car rentals, hotel bookings, and connections to public transit and robotaxis. Uber One, the company’s membership program, is central to that strategy: it has grown past 55 million members as of September 30, and Uber is giving members credits worth 10% of what they spend on eligible parking bookings — credits redeemable later for rides and Uber Eats orders.

Inside the app, users search a destination, pick a date and time, and compare self-parking, valet, garage and surface-lot options on an interactive map, with pricing shown upfront. After booking and paying through their Uber wallet, users enter the lot by scanning a QR code or through license-plate recognition, and can cancel free of charge until the reservation’s start time.

Why it matters

Parking gives Uber another everyday habit to anchor its app around, while doubling as staging infrastructure for the dozens of autonomous-vehicle partners it already has — a head start on the physical footprint robotaxis will need as that business grows.