Uber Flash taxi service Hong Kong launch imminent

Uber Hong Kong has announced it will launch its “Uber Flash” service on 5 March. The service matches users to either UberX vehicles or regular taxi cabs. The matching service took off in Singapore last year, where Uber partnered with ComfortDelGro to match riders with the closest available rides, which includes private-hire cars and ComfortDelGro taxis. ComfortDelGro Uber has also launched Uber Taxis in Japan and Taiwan. That Singapore partnership came as far less of a surprise as Uber and ComfortDelGro had been building a cosy relationship for some time. Back in 2017, ComfortDelGro Corporation signed an “exclusivity letter” with Uber discussing the creation of a strategic alliance between the two companies. This Hong Kong service launch, on the other hand, comes while the company still maintains a very murky legal status and faces outright hostility by many taxi drivers. According to Uber, at the upcoming launch event on 5 March,  Edward Lau, owner of Tin Shing Motors and Émilie Potvin, Uber’s Head of Public Policy for North Asia, will kickstart Uber Flash together by introducing the partnership and pilot program.