Uber in Arizona: A timeline of events leading up to shutdown of self-driving cars
Ryan Randazzo
November 2012: Uber launches ride-share service in Arizona. The first employee here is Gabe Williams, a former GoDaddy worker.
Dec. 31, 2012: Uber has 40 contract drivers working New Year's Eve.
Aug. 30, 2013: UberX launches in Phoenix.
Sept. 16, 2013: Uber hires local public relations firm Veridus as a lobbyist.
Sept. 17, 2013: Veridus contributes $2,000 to Doug Ducey's first campaign for governor.
October 2013: Service launches in Tucson.
September 2014: Service launches in Flagstaff.
January 2015: Now governor, Ducey halts enforcement against Uber and other ride-share services, which are not permitted by state law. The decision came in the lead-up to the Feb. 1 Super Bowl played at Glendale's University of Phoenix Stadium.
January-February 2015: Uber sets a service record during Super Bowl events.
May 2015: Ducey brags about terminating an acting agency director who wanted to enforce rules on ride-share services.
June 2015: Shawn Marquez, the acting director of the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures fired by Ducey, rejects the governor's claims about the ride-sharing dispute. Uber's operations center opens in Phoenix.
April 22, 2015: Gov. Ducey signs House Bill 2135, which authorized ride-sharing services.
June 2015: Service launches in Yuma.
July 2015: Uber partners with Cold Stone Creamery, Ducey's former company, for a promotion.
Aug. 25, 2015: Ducey issues an executive order permitting self-driving vehicle tests.
August 2015: Partnership with the University of Arizona for mapping test vehicles is announced.
May 2016: Service launches in Lake Havasu City.
June 2016: Service permitted at Sky Harbor International Airport. Mayor Greg Stanton took first ride.
July 2016: Uber Eats launches in Phoenix.
December 2016: Following a dispute with California regulators, the company brings a small fleet of self-driving cars to Arizona.
February 2017: Tempe Advanced Technologies Group facility opens and self-driving car pilot tests begin.
August 2017: Uber Eats in launches Tucson.
November 2017: Uber tests self-driving trucks on Arizona roads. The testing is not announced it publicly until March 2018.
March 18, 2018: A self-driving Uber Volvo with a test driver behind the wheel strikes and kills a pedestrian in Tempe. Uber halts on-road testing in Arizona and elsewhere.
March 26, 2018: Ducey sends a letter to Uber's new CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, telling him to suspend self-driving tests in Arizona.
May 23, 2018: Uber announces shut down of self-driving tests in Arizona. The company reports 550 employees in the state with 16,000 contract drivers.
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