On a hot afternoon in early September, fruit seller Cosmo dos Santos Araujo sits in his usual spot in front of the public hospital in Vila Heliópolis, the largest of São Paulo’s favelas. He’s feeling good about the past five months, when business was better than ever. Sales started to rise almost immediately after Uber in March installed a new pickup point next to his fruit stand. “I’ve been here for five years, and sales definitively have improved,” he says, holding his young daughter as he reaches over to an Uber driver to hand him a slice of watermelon.
Ewelyne Luis Santos Maciel, a cleaning woman, is waiting for a ride home to Vila Moraes four kilometers (2.5 miles) away. Before the pickup location was established, she says, visiting relatives in the neighborhood was much harder.
