Kamloops is the second city on the Western Canada expansion blitz of ridesharing company Uride.
Starting June 3, residents and visitors in Kamloops will be able to use the Uride app to book rides across the city.
"We already operate in Kelowna and eight smaller and mid-sized cities in Ontario (Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Belleville, Peterborough and Chatham)," said Uride founder and CEO Cody Ruberto.
"When we started to line up cities in Western Canada, Kamloops and Kelowna were first on the list."
Like the internationally famous Uber and Lyft, Uride is an app-based ride hailing company.
Download the app, request a ride, get picked up and complete your ride and your credit card via the app is charged.
You can even tip through the app and leave a review of the driver.
No need to dial numbers on your phone or deal with cash.
"Our prices are generally 20 to 40% less than a typical taxi," said Ruberto.
"And for a ride to or from Kamloops airport I think the savings is even more."
Uride is concentrating on operating in small and mid-sized cities that are underserved by cabs, rideshare and public transit.
"The whole reason I started the company was to fix the problem in my hometown of Thunder Bay," said Ruberto.
"If we can offer an alternative to people waiting for a taxi for an hour and prevent impaired driving then that's great."
Ruberto expects Uride and Kamloops to be a great fit.
"Whenever we come into a city, people are excited for us to arrive and we grow quickly because they have previously been underserved," said Ruberto.
"We just want to give people options for safe, quick, reliable and affordable rides 24/7."
As an incentive to try Uride in Kamloops, the company is offering a first-ride discount.
Uride recruited drivers in Kamloops with incentives like $1,250 weekly guarantees for All-Star Drivers and $700 signing bonus for part-time drivers.
The weekly guarantees of $1,250 income for those who joined as Uride All-Stars must commit to leaving the app on to be summoned for rides for 60 hours a week.
Uride is still looking for more drivers to join the platform in Kamloops.
The Uride app can be downloaded at UrideTech.com, the App store and Google Play store.
It's also recruiting in Victoria, Nanaimo and Prince George so it can launch in those cities soon.
