What to watch in 2020: Can Uber keep its promise to Dallas? - The Dallas Morning News

Note: The Dallas Morning News business staff looks ahead each year to the most significant business issues confronting North Texas companies and the local, state and national economies. This is one in a series of stories about what to watch in 2020. Follow along at dallasnews.com/business.

Dallas is a magnet for corporate headquarters and expansions, but the city really flexed its muscle this year when it landed a giant hub for a big, flashy tech company: Uber.

The ride-hailing giant announced in August that it would move into a Deep Ellum tower with plans to expand to 3,000 employees in what would be its second-largest hub outside of its San Francisco headquarters. Dallas officials cheered the news. They joined Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Dallas real estate glitterati to turn dirt at a groundbreaking ceremony.

Uber is expanding in Dallas in other ways, too. It’s mapping downtown Dallas streets for possible testing of self-driving cars, and it chose Dallas as one of the first cities that will test its urban air taxis.

But Uber’s expansion in Dallas comes as the company’s public perception and stock price continue to take hits. Its initial public offering flopped in May. Since then, its stock plummeted and it’s had multiple rounds of layoffs. It’s fighting efforts in California and other states to reclassify gig economy workers, such as its drivers, as employees. It disclosed that it had more than 3,000 reports of sexual assaults during rides in 2018. That’s a small percentage of its overall rides but a startling number for the public.

And that’s on top of its earlier baggage — including a fatal crash involving a self-driving car in Arizona and the scandal-plagued tenure of founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick.

As Uber juggles all of its challenges, Dallas residents and policymakers will watch to see whether it can pull off its vision closer to home. Can the company deliver on its pledge to grow to 3,000 employees by the end of 2023? And will its Dallas expansion help it win over Wall Street?

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What to watch in 2020: Can Uber keep its promise to Dallas? - The Dallas Morning News
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