Uber driver Gerald Davis has been one of the drivers servicing Auburn riders since the ride-hailing service launched this month, and he said the college town keeps him busier than Montgomery, where he’s been a driver for several months now.
“As far as getting hits, getting calls, it’s a lot more profitable up here [in Auburn],” he said. “A lot more people use it. … Sometimes I was getting calls on top of calls.”
Davis, 45, said he tries to work in Auburn Thursdays through Saturdays since the rates are higher, with most of his customers being students.
Uber arrived in Auburn nearly two weeks ago and will soon face game day crowds for the next several weeks, something it has confidence will get more drivers on the road, said Uber spokeswoman Evangeline George.
Though Uber does not release the number of drivers servicing a location, George said the company was monitoring and staying in contact with people interested in becoming drivers before launch to ensure a “comfortable level of drivers” to the area.
After receiving an email about the Auburn launch a few weeks ago, Davis decided to travel the distance to drive on The Plains. The earnings outweigh the cost of his commute, he said.
“Certainly the longer we are in a city, the more drivers we have, and you’ll see wait times decrease,” George said. “But we have been very happy with the number of drivers that we’ve seen signing up and excited to earn on the platform.”
Uber drivers choose when they want to be active, but the busy periods, soon to include game days, usually encourage partners to be active, George said.
“We normally see a lot of drivers very interested in driving on game day because so many people need rides, and then when the prices go up a little bit because of the demand, that’s certainly an incentive for them to be on the road,” George said.
Davis said he’s unsure whether he would work on game day though.
“I don’t know," he said. "I’d have to see, because I’m a big sports fan. I like to watch the game.”
Uber’s technology, George said, would help on game days. Riders can contact drivers through the app, see their profile and vehicle information and confirm a ride.
On days other than game days, though, the technology also helps make rides safe for students, George added.
“Really as a safe alternative to drinking and driving,” she said. “When people have a safe ride at the push of a button, they’re going to make a safer choice, so this just helps empower students to make that safe choice at the end of the night.”
Riders can track their driver’s trip to their pickup location and monitor their movement during the ride. They can also share their location with friends and family, which allows them to follow the ride and see when they arrive.
Juggling the college town’s slower summers and its high demands on game day presents a unique situation for drivers, something George said fits well with the drivers’ flexible work schedules.
That flexibility is what Davis said appeals most to him about the job.
“The freedom to pick and choose my schedule,” Davis said. “I’m not fixated on working this many hours. … If I want to make more money, I can make more money. I can stay on as long as I want.”
He said safety should be a priority, which was something the city struggled with since Uber’s background checks are conducted within the company rather than through the city.
“I just try to make my riders comfortable with me as a person, and I expect the same in return from them — for them to make me feel comfortable also,” Davis said.
Kevin McCarley, owner of Tiger Transportation, said he doesn’t foresee Uber affecting his business, which includes Tiger Taxi and other services.
“Our drivers are more qualified because we drive around this area,” McCarley said, adding some of Auburn’s Uber drivers are not locals. “We don’t have criminals working for us. Uber could have anybody working for them.”
McCarley noted the difference in security measures with taxi companies versus Uber.
“Our biggest thing that we have going is all of our drivers have been fingerprinted and all their information has been run through the state, and they’ve been approved to drive a taxi, whereas Uber drivers, they don’t,” he said.
David Dorton, director of public affairs with the City of Auburn, said though the nature of drivers' background checks was a major discussion for the city, overall people's desire for the service outweighed their concern of drivers' backgrounds.
The city can perform audits on the background checks twice a year and has other regulations in place for drivers to operate in the city.
He said he also believes Tiger Taxi can compete with Uber’s technology and pricing.
The taxi company has its own app, which allows riders to drop a pin at their location to hail a ride.
“Even if we are busy, it drops it into our queue, and we’ll get to you,” McCarley said.
Tiger Taxi also has a flat rate for riders, and its drivers can be more flexible with pricing for shorter rides, despite the minimum charge requirement, McCarley added.
“Because of their surges, we’re actually cheaper than them … just straight up, we’re cheaper,” he said.
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