Uber motorbike service met with regulatory snarl in São Paulo

American ride-hailing app Uber launched its motorbike ride operation in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. Before taking the service to Brazil’s two biggest cities, the company’s last leap in its steadfast expansion, the tech giant tested it in over 160 municipalities across the country. The option of motorbike ride-hailing will now be present in all Brazilian state capitals.

“We spent more than two years studying the use of the product in different places, and we evaluated the behavior that Uber Moto had in different Brazilian municipalities,” Luciana Ceccato, Uber’s marketing director in Brazil, said in a statement. 

“What we noticed is that, in addition to routine trips, there is constant use in arrivals and departures at bus, train, and subway stations and terminals, proving that this is a product that also supplements the displacement of users who use public transport,” Ms. Ceccato adds.

São Paulo city officials, however, were not thrilled. Mayor Ricardo Nunes on Thursday said his administration was surprised by the announcement. He vows to demand the immediate suspension of the service “until a meeting is held between the parties to understand the dynamics of the activity and studies and analyses can be carried out on the feasibility of implementing passenger transport service by motorcycles.”

Only after that, and...