A brand new rideshare firm beginning service in Kelowna on May 5 is guaranteeing a few of its drivers $1,500 a week for the primary month and $1,250 a week after that.
Drivers have to be obtainable as much as 60 hours a week, together with evenings when bars and nightclubs empty out.
“The whole reason I started this company was out of concern for the huge numbers of people who can’t get a taxi after a night out,” Cody Ruberto, chief government officer of Uride stated Friday in an interview.
“We want to prevent impaired driving, make sure people can get a quick, safe ride home, and not make a bad decision to get behind the wheel,” he stated from the corporate’s headquarters in Thunder Bay, Ont.
Uride was permitted for service in lots of areas of B.C., together with Kelowna, earlier this yr by the provincial Passenger Transportation Board. Service will start at midday on May 5.
The firm’s service in Kelowna will function across the clock, and Ruberto stated customers can count on to pay as much as 40% lower than on a typical taxi fare to achieve their vacation spot. A trip from downtown to the airport will price about $32, and from downtown to Orchard Park Mall shall be about $13.
Uride has a totally different enterprise mannequin than huge trip share firms comparable to Uber and Lyft. Uride limits the variety of drivers it has on the roads at any given time, making an attempt to match demand with provide.
Typically, different firms permit drivers to be obtainable at any time when they select to be. That can lead to too many drivers chasing too few fares, Ruberto stated, resulting in frustration and driver turnover.
To get the assured $1,500 a week the corporate is providing in its first month (and $1,250 a week after the primary month) drivers should conform to be obtainable with their telephones on for about 5, 12-hour durations a week.
“You’re probably going to be on the road driving, it might be five, six, to seven hours a day, depending on how busy we are, when you’re actually in trips,” Ruberto stated. Drivers also can get ideas, he added.
“Some of those $1,500 a week guarantees will be for night shifts, some will be for day shifts. There’ll be a mix,” Ruberto stated. Part-time driver positions are additionally obtainable.
From the person’s perspective, nevertheless, Uride will provide a service acquainted to what prospects expertise with different rideshare suppliers.
Agreeing to be obtainable to drive dwelling individuals who’ve been at a bar or nightclub for a few hours may not be interesting to everybody taken with working as a rideshare driver, Ruberto agreed.
“We’re coming to Kelowna to take on impaired driving and get people home safe. The only way this works is with the support of the community and all the incredible drivers who come on board,” he stated. “So we’re going really aggressive with offering guaranteed earning income to incentivize drivers.
“The money’s nice for them, but we want people who really care about making a difference and preventing impaired driving,” he stated. “We operate 24/7 giving people safe, reliable, affordable transportation at all hours of the day.
“But it’s terrible to see people stranded outside a bar, not being able to get rides home,” Ruberto stated. “I’ve had friends who’ve died from getting hit by impaired drivers, and I also know people who’ve been behind the wheel and killed someone. It’s something that I personally really, really care about. That’s the main reason our company exists.”