Ridesharing service Uride offers free weekend rides as part of Sault launch

If you’re out on the town this weekend, you can download rideshare company Uride’s app on your phone and enjoy a free ride home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday, as the company marks its launch in Sault Ste. Marie.

“Our primary goal is to help eradicate impaired driving across smaller communities in Ontario and Manitoba, and across Canada,” said Skye Volpi, Uride chief operating officer, speaking to SooToday Friday afternoon in a telephone interview from his Toronto office.

“We’re aiming to have a wait time of under 10 minutes...our services are about 20 per cent less expensive than taxis (on average),” Volpi said.

Uride launched in Thunder Bay in March 2017, established by Cody Ruberto, now Uride’s chief executive officer.

Uride currently operates in Thunder Bay, Chatham-Kent, Sudbury, North Bay, Winnipeg, and now, Sault Ste. Marie.

“Cody’s actually a professional soccer player who plays in Europe, originally from Thunder Bay, and he was back home in Thunder Bay for treatment of a soccer injury, and during the holidays he saw there was such a high demand for transportation, especially during bar rush in the winter months, with wait times of anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, sometimes in excess of one hour,” Volpi said.

Volpi joined the Uride team in May 2017.

“We participated in driving at first to get to know our customers, it was small but we grew and now we’re in the Sault, our sixth community, and in fact we’ve made applications to service five cities in British Columbia.”

After some opposition, ridesharing services such as that offered by Uride and Uber were approved in Sault Ste. Marie by city council Oct. 7.

“There’ve been different experiences in each city we’ve launched. Some cities preemptively created a bylaw in anticipation of these services arriving, so they want to make sure they’re regulated in advance. Sault Ste. Marie has been on our radar for some time. City council was working on regulation and I made a stop in the summer in Sault Ste. Marie, met with some city councillors, and we’re happy to be here now,” Volpi said. 

Uride, Volpi said, has received approximately 100 applications from people looking to drive for Uride in the Sault, approximately five drivers to be out for Uride Friday and Saturday.

Applicants may apply to Uride through the Uride app, Volpi said.

“We’re going to make every effort to drive 24 and 7 in the Sault. It’s just a matter of getting more drivers through the hiring process.”

“We’ve had so many people from Sault Ste. Marie, working or studying in Thunder Bay, ask for us to bring our service to the city. We’re really excited that finally we can launch and make a difference in Sault Ste. Marie... we’re hoping to get 40 or 50 drivers by December,” Ruberto told us in a phone call from England, now back to playing soccer in Wales.

Ruberto and Volpi run Uride by communicating with company management officials throughout Ontario and Manitoba by using online technology available through cell phone or laptop.

Stephen Findlay, Driverseat Sault Ste. Marie owner, in reaction to Uride’s arrival, said “We started with the same goal in mind – to end impaired driving locally, to bring people and their vehicles home. We’ve done thousands of rides since we opened in Sault Ste. Marie in 2013. For Uride to come in, I think, is a great option for our community, for those who don’t have a vehicle, and I think more transportation options are required.” 

“We’re more of a vehicle chauffeur and we’re getting into private corporate charter services in the future. We work in teams of two (one driver takes an individual home, the other takes his/her vehicle home). Uride is not really a direct competitor to us. They’re going to be affecting the local taxi companies more,” Findlay said, Driverseat information available through that company’s app. 

Driverseat is based in hundreds of communities across Canada, headquartered in Kitchener, Ont.

Officials from Soo Yellow Cab and Union Cab were not immediately available for comment.