Former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has joined Uber's public policy advisory board, the transportation network company announced.
LaHood served as the secretary of the department from 2009 to 2013.
Uber stated in a post on Medium that it held its first public policy advisory board meeting with its board members:
Meoldy Barnes - Vice provost for Global Student Leadership Initiatives at New York University and former director of the Domestic Policy Council at the White House
Roberto Danino - Former Prime Minister of Peru
Dr. Allan Fels - Professor at Melbourne, Monash and Oxford Universities and former chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
Neelie Kroes - Netherlands Special Envoy for Startups and former vice president of the European Commission
Ray LaHood - Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Dr. Gesner Oliveira - Former President of the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defence
Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud - Founder and CEO, Alf Khair
Adil Zainulbhai - Chairman of the Quality Council of India and former chairman of McKinsey India
The board discussed the challenges and opportunities Uber faces.
While just a few years ago only California had a regulatory framework for ridesharing, today, more than 70 jurisdictions in the U.S. do.
Uber sees itself as a complement to public transit that can provide transportation in underserved areas and can reduce costs and congestion through carpooling.
