Town In Canada Utilizes Uber As A Cheaper Alternative to Public Transportation

Uber steppedvout of the box recently when they made a deal with Innisfil Canada, a city of 36,000, to implement more drivers as a replacement for more costly alternatives of public transit. The city invested $100,000 into Uber to lower the prices of rides and to incentivize locals to get their side hussle on.

Uber and lyft are becoming a blessing to cities, particularly large ones due to their low cost for rides and a simple part time job for most users. Uber is a cheaper alternative to buying a car, paying for gas and insurance, and maintaining your vehicle. Tourists and individuals visiting locations away from their homes can utilize Uber as well to navigate through their unfamiliar surroundings to reach their desired destinations.

All seems well with the urban utilization of Uber, but a larger scale city installation of Uber will result in negative drawbacks for local taxi business. Most taxi drivers are required to undergo strict regulations, licensing, and insurance restrictions where Uber drivers, working privately can avoid all the headache and still make money.

I believe this could work better as a temporary stand in while the city scrapes up more money to put together a more reliable bus system. Through the Uber app, the city can analyze the most frequent routes and set their public transit schedule accordingly to accommodate traversing individuals.

I was able to use lyft recently when I traveled to Minnesota recently to visit the Mayo and various tourist attractions with my mom. All of the drivers we had felt like real people, casual, helpful, and easy to talk to. When we had some free time and didn't know what to do for fun or good restaurants to visit they directed us toward great options.

Uber, lyft, and other carpool services have great potential in the future but there should still be a limit on the cities usage of their services.