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Canadian Town Picks Uber For Public Transit (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the car-hailing-services dept.

Stephen Shankland reports via CNET: Innisfil, population 32,727 as of 2014, concluded in a March council meeting that subsidizing the car-hailing service was a better deal than paying for a bus line. The city plans to pay 100,000 Canadian dollars (about $75,000) for a first stage of the program and CA$125,000 for a second round about 6 to 9 months in. That compares to CA$270,000 annually for one bus and CA$610,000 for two, the town said. The town evaluated on-demand transit proposals as an alternative to buses. "Uber emerged as the only company with an app-based platform (i.e. UberPool) that would facilitate ridesharing and the matching of two or more passengers on trips across the entire town," the town said in its explanation of the move. Innisfil will subsidize Uber trips so citizens pay between CA$3 and CA$5 themselves, depending on the destination, the town said. "You can't have taxpayers pay for a transit system which they cannot use," Innisfil Mayor Gord Wauchope told The Toronto Star. "And this was a transit system that people can get from anywhere in the town of Innisfil, and use it for a reasonable price."

4 of 200 comments (clear)

  1. Can't use by jabberw0k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What telephone number do I dial to hail an "Uber" ? I do not have a so-called "smart" so-called "telephone".

    1. Re:Can't use by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Funny

      What telephone number do I dial to hail an "Uber" ? I do not have a so-called "smart" so-called "telephone".

      0800-GET-F**KED:)

      Well I called that and got a ride... it wasn't Uber though!

    2. Re:Can't use by kaka.mala.vachva · · Score: 5, Insightful

      A one person call center that receives requests and books rides for people? Free public phones/tablets at multiple locations to allow users to call and request a cab? There are multiple ways to solve that - for a town of 32k people, this may indeed work out well. In my town of 56k people, here in California, public transport is not useful - the closest bus stop is 3/4 mile away from my place (and I live close to down town). We use Uber for any travel where we cannot/don't want to take our car - a subsidized Uber would be really useful.

  2. population by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Innisfil, population 32,727 as of 2014

    Is anybody else weirdly disappointed that the town does not have 41 more people?