OREANDA-NEWS. February 26, 2016. The company announced a new service called UberMoto, through which passengers can grab rides on motorcycles with an Uber driver at the handlebars. The service has debuted as a pilot program in Bangkok, a city overflowing with traffic generated by automobiles.

San Francisco-based Uber, now 6 years old, operates in 350 cities in 60 countries. Despite its rapid growth, it faces challenges such as fierce competition from ride-hailing rivals like Lyft. It also contends with Asia-specific rivals like Didi Kuaidi in China and Grab in Southeast Asia. Grab already uses motorcycles in Thailand.

Uber says the idea behind UberMoto is to save passengers time and money, especially if they just need a short ride that doesn't require a full-sized car. The new service carries with it all of Uber's standard safety features, according to the company, including GPS tracking, two-way feedback from both driver and passenger and the ability for the passenger to share details of the trip with other people. UberMoto drivers also go through a police background check.

Why Bangkok as the first test? Uber is developing the service specifically for cities in emerging markets, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Bangkok's traffic problems also made it a candidate.