If anyone needs a ride, I’m now approved by Uber for servicing the Brattleboro area. Will tailer hours to demand. I’m based in downtown Bratt, and will provide rides anywhere in the region. Request a pickup from the Uber app anytime you need to get to or from somewhere. More affordable, luxurious and convenient then a taxi.
Riders provided with quick chargers for phones, and offered a choice of music from Pandora, SiriusXM, or even from their phone connected via Bluetooth. Clean, safe, newer model upscale car. I’m customer service oriented, eager to please, and will accomodate any reasonable request to make your ride more enjoyable. Service animals welcome.
Check for free ride promos from Uber- currently they’re offering a free first ride credit up to $15 with the code HITTHEROAD. With multiple accounts, you an use the promo code more than once.
Hiya. I'm pretty sure Uber
Hiya.
I’m pretty sure Uber service is currently not available in Brattleboro. When I went to the uber website and typed in Brattleboro to check, it sent me to this https://www.uber.com/cities/burlington page which lists the areas in Vermont that are served.
Now you can live in Brattleboro and be registered to drive (as I am an Uber driver too) but the closest market that Uber is available in (per their website) is Western Mass and that’s where I do all my driving. Primarily around Northampton and Amherst. It can be pretty dead there sometimes though. I can’t imagine how dead it’d be up here. Maybe time will change that.
Actually Brattleboro is
Actually Brattleboro is active in Uber – at least on the Uber app. I know there has been one woman driving sporadically for a few months and now there is another driver. So, either the company app is wrong or the information you got was wrong.
I believe there are also a couple of drivers in the Wilmington area.
I pulled all my info from the
I pulled all my info from the Uber website sooooo, maybe their website isn’t the most up to date? Maybe I’ll write the company to see what’s going on. If I could Uber here rather than going to Mass, I’d be all for it. But again, the market is so small here….
It's not that small.
It’s not that small. Brattleboro Taxi had 7 full time drivers working 7 days a week. Of course there were slow times but generally they were pretty busy all the time. I often would have to wait 30-45 minutes for a taxi. People would also use it to go to Putney and Hinsfale. I’ve been paying a former taxi driver $25 each trip to take me to do a couple of errands twice a week.
Is the Uber drivers got the word out and were reliable I think it would be decent. There is no way to get anywhere in this town – when the taxi closed lots of people were left stranded- literally.
It would no doubt be short trips but those add up.
Taxis so expensive
So… gave my first Uber ride last night, about 9 o’clock. The couple was from Chicago and were really grateful that Uber was here. They only needed to go a mile, but it was their anniversary so they didn’t want to walk obviously. Total trip cost for them was less than $5. I’m going to stay offline a few days now, while I wait for my Uber decals to arrive, get a better phone mount for my car, do a full detailing of my interior, and get some more professional clothes ready to throw on when I get my next ride request. I got another ride request last night too, but I only have 15 seconds to accept it, and I didn’t notice in time. Basically have to have my phone in eyesight at all times.
If it’s your first ride, remember to use the $15 promo code, and you can get a pretty decent length ride for free 🙂
I will be offline for probably about two days while I prepare to do it right, but after that, you should be able to rely on Uber here when you need it.
I’m also an approved Lyft driver now for all of Western MA too, so I will be serving that area when I can, especially in and around Greenfield.
Congratulations on your first
Congratulations on your first customers! I don’t now what the restrictions are for where you can drive to but the taxi used to have quite a few runs to Connecticut to the airport and , in the winter time lots of runs going to the ski areas – folks who would come in on the train. I hope this works out for you!
What’s the tipping criteria now for Uber? I know when I use it in NYC you can’t give the driver a tip but you can add it to your ride request.
Go Uber!!!
This is great. I love the fact that capitalism and free enterprise is popping up in Brattleboro.
Free enterprise...
is not just another word for capitalism.
The mega-corporation which uses its power to squelch competition in order to inflate prices, is very different from the local person with a pickup truck who offers their services in order to earn an honest living for honest work.
Up and running
Turned on my Uber app today, plan on leaving it on all day, see if any requests come through. I’m not sure how tips work, I believe they’re built into the app. The only drawback to it is I have 15 seconds to reply to a ride request, and even with the notification sound turned all the way up, it’s easy to not notice. If all else fails, feel free to text me a ride request, 802-365-1941, and I can pay extra close attention to requests in the app.
15 seconds is not much time!
15 seconds is not much time! I think that reply time is based on the assumption that drivers are already out in their cars and the driver closest to the new ride request is usually the one who answers the request. I have a friend who drives in Boston and she said she almost never gets to respond in time unless she’s in the car with her phone mounted.
Holiday today- might be slow because businesses and offices are closed.Good luck!
Thanks again
Always appreciate your comments and suggestions KAlden 🙂 I’m hoping if people realize they can count on Uber for a ride, they’ll be more inclined to use it. Will stay online as much as possible from now on.
*Update- Just got a ride request from Putney to Brattleboro, worked out great! I think the standard taxi rate is something ridiculous, a friend told me $40, the ride cost only about $15 with Uber, so it’s definitely a savings. The free $15 towards first ride code would have just about covered the whole trip. Got a five star review, which is super important. I’m providing cold bottled water for riders, in addition to phone chargers. Is there anything else people would like in their ride to earn a five star review?
Wow! Cool. Looks like you're
Wow! Cool. Looks like you’re going to have a little competition now 🙂 I was going to mass to drive around because when I initially signed up, it wasn’t available in Brattleboro. It actually wouldn’t even let you go “online” if you tried to. Wish they had told me! Best of luck on your Ubering adventures. I’ve been doing it for a year now and it’s pretty good.
Added security
It’s interesting to note that, as provided by TechFan, Checkr is an application compliance check and CORI is a criminal background check.
Why not start a taxi company?
A question… with at least two interested local drivers, why not just start a local taxi company, get licensed by the Town, and keep all the profits? Is there something about town regs that makes it difficult?
Local taxi regs don’t seem that terrible, and could probably be amended without much difficulty to update and adapt them for modern times (i.e., competition from online apps).
http://www.brattleboro.org/vertical/sites/%7BFABA8FB3-EBD9-4E2C-91F9-C74DE6CECDFD%7D/uploads/Chapter_11_2013.pdf
Adventure Transportation from
Adventure Transportation from Keene has leased the old taxi space and is apparently having some delays in the licensing aspect. I don’t know if it’s on their end or this town is dragging its feet but it’s been about 21/2months now – they’ve advertised for drivers and have taxis parked there- not sure what the deal is. I think starting a licensed taxi company is pretty expensive with various kinds of necessary insurance; licensing, upkeep on the vehicles; driver checks and licensing. There is an unlicensed taxi service that runs out of Vernon and has for years. Not quite sure why the town would allow that- if someone gets injured and he has no insurance it falls to the town to deal with the outcome.
Good Question
I like the idea of offering more affordable service by cutting out the middleman in Uber, but for now, I’m going to stick with them. I went to school for psychology, so I really don’t have much education in business, and I’m sure there’d be many unexpected costs associated with running a private taxi company. The fact that the previous taxi company charged higher rates than Uber and still didn’t stay in business hints that it might not be as easy and cheap to operate as one may expect.
What I like about Uber is they do all the work with regulations, provide extended insurance coverage, and have an app that is widely known, and works pretty effectively. Customers can see exactly where I am at any time, know when I’ll be there, and navigation is automated. Plus customers get a nicer car, and better service- choice of music, temperature, snacks, cold beverages for the ride, cell phone charging, etc. Granted, I could offer some of those things with my own company, but it would be missing key features. Uber’s rating system is well refined, allowing both drivers and passengers to rate each other, giving me huge incentive to go out of my way to provide the best service possible. With a private company, I’d lose out on all the structure and development that Uber has invested into their system.
Plus I want to pursue a career in IT, so it’s strictly a side hustle I can do in my free time.
Let the rides begin
It’ll be interesting to see how this pans out (hopefully it’ll be good for everyone!).
You are breaking new ground in Brattleboro. Do you think you need the Town’s taxicab license to provide the service (“No person may originate any fare or pick up any passenger in a taxicab within the limits of the Town unless he or she has a permit to operate as a taxicab driver”) or is this not defined as a “taxicab”?
I have to say, with you and David being drivers, you’re turning around my previous negative impressions of the company/CEO. : )
"hopefully it'll be good for everyone!"
Like KAlden, I am also mobility challenged so this new development is, indeed, good for everyone.
I have friends who drive for
I have friends who drive for Uber and my understanding is that the company covers all licensing except for personal drivers licenses. I don’t think it’s considered a taxi- more like a car service like a limousine?
It’s interesting that the town has that specific wording because they, in fact, do allow an unlicensed taxi service to operate in Brattleboro and have for many years.
I hope one of the local papers does a little story on Uber being here- be a good way to generate business.
hope one of the local papers does a little story
WE did…. : )
Yes- but, not everyone is as
Yes- but, not everyone is as savvy as the ibrattleboro users and a newspaper article might reach those who don’t yet realize
Ibrattleboro is the way to get the scoop on what’s happening in this town.. 🙂
Hmm.. Unfortunately my first
Hmm.. Unfortunately my first attempt at using the new Uber service has not been successful. I’ve been trying via the Uber app for well over an hour to book a ride to do some errands but it keeps saying no driver available. Disappointed.
Now, I have to see if any friends or family are maybe going to a supermarket.
I’ve used my app before although in other cities- maybe I’ll try loading it again.
It really is more about the
It really is more about the technology than anything. It’s just so damn easy to use and the algorithms do all the logistical work for you and it feeds you customers. It’s actually far more convenient for drivers (and riders) than the old dispatch model of doing things.
Exactly
Exactly
2019 update
Seems like only one other driver (silver Impreza) in town besides me these days (silver prius)…as noted earlier in this thread, it is much easier to arrange rides with a text in advance. My daily job is flexible but with some set commitments…bit with some notice I can make arrangements. 802-275-6681 send a text next time you need to get around town!