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Uber buys parcel near Pittsburgh for self-driving test track

This Wednesday, June 21, 2017, file photo shows the building that houses the headquarters of Uber, in San Francisco. Uber acknowledged more than 3,000 sexual assaults occurred during U.S. Uber rides in 2018, the company said in a long-awaited safety report. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File) This Wednesday, June 21, 2017, file photo shows the building that houses the headquarters of Uber, in San Francisco. Uber acknowledged more than 3,000 sexual assaults occurred during U.S. Uber rides in 2018, the company said in a long-awaited safety report. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

By Associated Press December 27, 2019 1 min read

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Uber is increasing its footprint in the Pittsburgh area with the purchase of a $9.5 million parcel to be used as a new test track for self-driving cars.

Uber Technologies spokeswoman Sarah Abboud confirmed the purchase to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review but said she could not immediately share more details about the plan.

The San Francisco ride-hailing giant bought the nearly 600-acre parcel in Findlay Township through an Uber affiliate from a developer, the Imperial Land Corp., according to land company President Jerry Bunda.

The headquarters for Uber’s autonomous vehicles branch, the Advanced Technologies Group, remains in the city’s Strip District, where it leases a 50-acre plot in Hazelwood Green to test self-driving cars. But the company has been looking for a new location for the test track.

That lease expires in 2023 and is not expected to be renewed, Abboud said.