Uber is now expanding its brand of rideshare service to communities around BC, including the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, making its app available in all areas and continuing to recruit drivers.
In a news release, Uber Canada General Manager Michael van Hemmen says they are excited to bring rideshare to more British Columbians, giving residents and visitors alike a safe, affordable, and reliable option to help get them “where they need to go, when they need to.”
Ryan Staley of Sechelt, founder of Coastal Rides, an app-based ride-hailing service on the Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, expects Uber’s presence to have an impact on their bottom line, but he is not overly concerned.
“We are here, we are still growing,” Staley says, “and as people get familiar with these kinds of services, I think they’re going to look for something that is more local and works with drivers.”
He adds that when big multi-national companies enter a market they tend to “suck all the oxygen out of the room,” but believes Coastal Rides offers a service that’s “more reliable than the traditional rideshare platforms are in the rural communities,” and will emerge stronger in the end.
Uber says while the app is available across the entire province, rides “will only be available where drivers actively sign up and go online to do trips,” so the level of service may vary depending on the number of drivers in an area.
Staley says one of the challenges all companies face is finding and retaining drivers. He says they have owner-operator drivers, but also staff drivers using vehicles owned by Coastal Rides, which they discovered was a “requirement to make it reliable,” in some rural areas.
He says Coastal Rides currently has 35 to 40 active drivers, providing ride-hailing service in Gibsons, Sechelt, Halfmoon Bay and Pender Harbour, Courtenay and Comox, Campbell River, Port Alberni, and Tofino, and they recently added a couple of drivers in Powell River.
He says they only have a few drivers in Nanaimo, which means they focus mostly on pre-booked trips rather than on-demand service for the city.
Staley says in Nanaimo Uber may pose a bigger challenge for them because its business model works better with a larger population.
He thinks the current ‘buy local’ sentiment among Canadians may also provide a boost to Coastal Rides.
They don’t operate in places like Victoria and Metro Vancouver, but Staley says they often receive inquiries from people saying they want “a Canadian option” in those markets.
He says there are companies from Ontario operating here, which are Canadian but not local.
Staley says the transportation industry is not a zero-sum game, adding that Vancouver and Victoria still have plenty of taxis and other companies offering services, so there’s opportunity to be “adaptive to the needs of the local community and provide a service that’s really needed.”
Coastal Rides says all fares are set in advance, with service and payments made using its app or online at its website.
