[awad]

It's not just navigation, there are many local nuances like where in airports or large stadiums they're allowed to operate or not operate out of. Dealing with city and county ordinances at the scale of Uber takes some bit of human power.

[dizhn]

That's their backup mode of operation as far as I know. Their primary mode is to disregard all rules. They paid for the drivers' fines for years in my country until they were flat out banned. Only a few places like China were able to really get rid of them. A seriously shady company.

[awad]

Regardless of past behavior, there are many many locales that do in fact levy their rules on Uber who have made a business decision to comply, leading to localized experiences of the app and service that can change both between different cities and even within different areas of a city.

[dizhn]

You're right of course. I think they attack a new market from two directions. First they just enter the market, rules be damned. But from a different angle they have a huge lobbying arm to make themselves legal in the long run and in favorable terms. That's actually not a bad strategy businesswise IF you can pull it off in enough places. Usually the public really likes the service so there is no push back.