Done Deal: Uber is coming to Missoula, Helena
Uber, the popular car sharing service, announced that it is expanding to Montana. As part of their Rural Roads Initiative, Uber will begin service in Helena and Missoula starting on June 1. Uber said it was expanding to Laramie, WY, Idaho Falls, ID, and Lethbridge, Alberta in the same announcement.
Clearing the path for Uber making its Big Sky debut was the passage of Montana Representative Ellie Hill’s (D-Missoula) bill to de-regulate the Montana taxi industry and allow for the operation of online ride-booking services (read more here). When the bill was introduced, Uber spokesman Michael Amodeo said: “[Uber is] excited about the Montana market and look forward to exploring opportunities to offer more choice and opportunity to Montanans in the future.”
Uber currently operates in 137 cities in 55 countries. According to the press release, its ‘Rural Roads Initiative’ is Uber’s attempt to reach more customers in underserved parts of the country. An Uber spokesman said, “Montana makes a lot of sense for Uber: most cities here don’t have adequate taxi options, and Montanans just really, really, really seem to like drinking an unsafe amount of alcohol.” He continued, “folks in Helena and Missoula will soon have a safe, convenient way home after they drink a couple gallons of Moose Drool.”
Uber fans, like Missoula resident Henry Williams, said the service is great, “I use it often when I get back home to New York and some of the bigger cities like Denver. It’s really convenient for me and my friends, because you do everything from your phone.”
But not everyone is excited. Former senate candidate Bob Kelleher said, “why do you need cars when you can walk places? The Uber service doesn’t work with landlines and many Montanans don’t have cell phones. Let’s keep this California technology out of our great state.”
Uber is actively recruiting people to become “Uber X” drivers. Uber relies on independent driver’s utilizing their technology to find customers and collect money, and then the company takes a percentage of the money made. The service allows drivers to set their own hours and use their own personal cars to give people rides. An Uber spokesman said “we are making this announcement on April 1 for a lot of reasons, but mostly to allow us enough time to recruit quality drivers by June 1.”
If you are interested in applying to be an Uber driver, check out their application process here.
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