Uber vows to change direction, become more humane company

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber is vowing to head down a new road and become a more humane company following a wave of ugly developments, including allegations of rampant sexual harassment and a video of a profanity-laced confrontation between the ride-hailing company's CEO and a disgruntled driver.

The pledge came in a contrite conference call today with some of the reporters who have been covering the incidents that have painted an unflattering portrait of the company, threatening to trigger a backlash among the riders and drivers who have propelled its rapid rise.

Even as it acknowledges past mistakes, Uber says the fallout hasn't damaged its business yet. Ridership in the U.S. during the first 10 weeks of this year is up from the same time last year, according to Rachel Holt, who oversees Uber's operations in the U.S. and Canada.

Holt was one of three women who handled today's damage control, joining Uber's only female board member, Arianna Huffington, and Liane Hornsey, the company's head of human resources.

Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was conspicuously absent from the call, though he is in the eye of the storm thrashing the company. Company representatives said Kalanick couldn't attend because he was busy interviewing the candidates vying to become the company's chief operating officer, a helping hand that Kalanick has said he needs to "grow up" at the age of 40.

Besides berating an Uber driver last month for complaining about the company's pay scale, Kalanick also has been skewered for creating a boorish culture that culminated in a former female engineer alleging management looked the other way after she and other women reported being propositioned by their male colleagues.

Last month, Kalanick hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to lead an investigation into the sexual-harassment charges leveled by the former engineer, Susan Fowler. Holder's report will be completed and publicly released by the end of April, Huffington said.