São Paulo, the world's fourth-largest city, has struggled for decades with inadequate urban planning for traffic growth. Public transport is chaotic, and traffic jams plague the metropolis. Due to heavy pollution, using the river as a transport option was no easy task.

Uber presented São Paulo with a proposal to rethink urban mobility: a heavily modified boat to navigate the Pinheiros River for the first time in more than 60 years. The vessel underwent technical modifications to meet the challenges of the Pinheiros, including larger propellers, bespoke debris guards, and the addition of two engines, and was made available as an official option to anyone via the Uber app.