Dear Editor:
I used Uber for the first time in Toronto recently and was absolutely thrilled at the service, convenience and price.
I had become convinced by all the rhetoric in Vancouver that somehow Uber was evil.
We were on a business trip and landed at Pearson airport.
We decided to get a traditional taxi to our airport hotel.
We flagged a taxi, and told the driver the location and were told by the driver the minimum charge was $20 – the hotel was less than 500 metres away and took less than three minutes.
The driver upon arrival remained in the car and did not help us unload our bags.
The next day we tried Uber – what an amazing experience.
On your phone, you can see where all the drivers are in the area, you have a picture of the car, the driver, their licence plate and the cost to get to your location.
The driver was a polite retired man in his early 70s who arrived within two minutes in a beautiful near- new black Ford Lincoln SUV, spotless, clean, leather, air-conditioning etc.
The Uber driver jumped out helped us load, was polite and helpful and charged $10 for a five-kilometre, 10-minute trip.
The second trip was a young university student with a near-new Ford car, spotless clean, very polite and also jumped out to load and unload.
The cost of the second trip was $12 and was about eight-km and 15 minutes. Both drivers said that they Uber drive part time to gain extra income.
I was stunned at the convenience, price, beautiful cars and kind and polite drivers.
Uber should be in Vancouver. It’s amazing. I’m sold on the great service and nice people.
Dan M. Jepsen
West Vancouver
