The numbers cited here are just the declarable dollars spent at the federal level.
In addition there is the money spent at state capitals and for lobbyists at the local level.
Then there's the big money. The best example was probably Austin, Texas where Uber and Lyft spent millions on local political advertising.
Finally there are the political campaign donations which are not as large as the political advertising but do get the attention of the recipients.
From The Hill:
Uber nearly tripled its federal lobbying efforts in 2016 compared with the previous year, reaching an all-time high of more than $1 million.
In the last three months of 2016, the ride-hailing firm spent $390,000 on lobbying, according to disclosure forms. That figure brings Uber’s total federal lobbying spending to $1.36 million for 2016, which is $890,000 more than it spent in 2015.
In 2014 and 2013, Uber spent just $200,000 and $50,000, respectively.
The company is still considered a relative newcomer to the tech scene, and its federal lobbying pales in comparison to other tech giants such as Google and Amazon.
But Uber has rapidly ramped up its work in Washington under the watch of Niki Christoff, a former Republican campaign operative who previously held high-level positions at Google.
The increased lobbying comes as the ride-hailing firm engages in the debate over self-driving cars. Uber began testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh last year, though it had to end a similar experiment in San Francisco because it lacked the necessary state permit required for autonomous driving....MORE
