Uber drives Chambersburg streets
CHAMBERSBURG - Uber began operating its Franklin County transportation service a week ago.
Uber, based in San Francisco, essentially works as a middle man connecting riders with drivers.
Glen May, an Uber driver since March, is ecstatic to be working in his own town, Chambersburg. Local bar and motel owners tell him that the service is needed, he said. The town has a small taxi service and no public transit system.
“We’re lacking in the transportation department big time,” May said.
Uber launched service in Chambersburg at 5 p.m. on Aug. 4 as part of the York-Gettysburg district. It recently posted online a coupon for first-time users in Chambersburg.
The Public Utility Commission in January granted Uber subsidiary Rasier-PA LLC a two-year license for “experimental service” throughout Pennsylvania, excluding Philadelphia. Lyft, a competing transportation network company, also has a two-year license, but has limited its service to the Pittsburgh and Philadelphia areas.
“There are close to 20,000 people driving with Uber in Pennsylvania, and we expect that number to continue growing as we expand,” Uber spokesman Craig Ewer said.
A consumer with a smartphone can use the Uber app to ask for someone to take them from one place to another.
Both riders and drivers are registered with Uber, and they rate each other. Payment is by credit card, already registered with Uber. Tipping, cash only, is optional.
“Uber wants a cashless society,” May said.
May, whose bread and butter comes from working for corporate Rite-Aid, works as an Uber driver to earn extra money. He sets his own hours.
“It’s the best kind of part-time job,” he said. “I call myself a 'weekend warrior.' I put my family to bed and go driving all night. You meet so many people from all over the country. You don’t know what the night will bring.”
Drivers are subcontractors, not employees. Uber calls them partners.
Garrett Camp, the founder of web-discovery tool StumbleUpon, and Travis Kalanick founded UberCab in 2009 with $200,000 in seed money. The company currently is worth more than $62 billion, according to Bloomberg News. It started turning a profit earlier this year. Uber takes about 25 percent of the average fare, but most of it has gone to marketing, software development and customer support.
When May started as an Uber driver he drove to Harrisburg and State College to work a shift. He said the Harrisburg-Carlisle area became flooded with drivers, and the rates fell, so he tried the Frederick-Hagerstown area in Maryland.
“I had a ping to Philly, a two-and-a-half-hour ride,” he said, referring to Uber's system to notify drivers of ride assignments. “Unless you work your way back, the dead miles coming back aren’t worth it.”
A driver or rider can decline a trip. If no drivers are available, the rider will receive the message on his or her smartphone.
A rider should expect a clean ride and a driver in good spirits, May said.
He’s tried to make his van unique with neon blue interior lights. He’s invested in a dash cam. His one rule: No smoking in the car.
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“I talk to passengers about everything,” May said. “I’m trying to stick out from a taxi. When you ride, you control the music you want to listen to.”
Uber drivers cannot answer curbside hails or direct phone calls because they are not regulated as taxis, according to May.
Uber and Lyft started doing business in 2014 in Pennsylvania, months before the PUC issued the experimental operating licenses. Uber was fined $11.4 million and has appealed. Lyft settled for a $250,000 fine.
“This case has brought to the forefront the need for both legislative and regulatory reforms in the passenger carrier space,” PUC Chairman Robert F. Powelson said in a January statement.
Legislators are looking at a regulatory framework for mobile ride-hailing services. The Senate overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 984, sponsored by Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Washington. The bill is before the full House.
The bill includes driver and consumer protections such as primary insurance coverage for the time a driver is available to accept rides to the time in which the passenger reaches his or her destination. The companies will be required to conduct criminal background checks on their drivers and to have zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policies.
According to Bartolotta, the transportation network companies have changed the way that many people travel in cities and suburbs. A permanent solution is needed to ensure the safety of drivers, riders and the public.
The PUC, meanwhile, is developing temporary rules for the industry before mid-December.
Jim Hook, 717-262-4759
Uber workings:
- You need to register with Uber to be a rider or a driver.
- Using the Uber smartphone app, you can hail a ride by typing in your location and where you want to go.
- When you tap for a driver, an Uber driver in the area is notified by a smartphone ping and answers the request. The rider’s phone is pinged. If the rider accepts the ride, a picture of the driver appears on the smartphone along with the vehicle make, model and license plate number.
- The driver and rider can stay in touch with one another via texting without knowing each other's actual cell phone numbers.
- The Uber ride has a placard in the passenger window.
- Payment is by credit card already in the Uber system.
Uber notes:
When registering with Uber, a driver must submit to a background check and send photos of his or her driving license and vehicle inspection sticker. The vehicle must be less than 10 years old.
You can get an estimate before requesting the ride:
- A 3-mile, 11-minute trip from the Franklin County Courthouse to the Walmart Supercenter on Lincoln Way East costs about $8 in a car or $12 in a larger vehicle, according to uberestimate.com.
- A trip to the Harrisburg International Airport costs about $85.
- Mileage and time affect the actual fare.
Rates are higher, or “surge,” during peak travel times. Uber’s reasoning is that more drivers will make themselves available.
The cost of an Uber ride is comparable to a taxi ride, but the two have different methods of calculating fares. Uber claims to have a quicker response.