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In a town that has a dearth of cabs, Uber continues to make inroads.
The latest: The popular ride service on Wednesday begins offering "scheduled rides" in Metro Detroit, which allows customers to book a ride between 15 minutes and 30 days beforehand, reports JC Reindl of the Detroit Free Press. The service will start with Detroit and spread to Metro Detroit in coming weeks.
Up until now, customers could only hail an Uber via a smartphone app right at the time they needed a ride. The service is expected to be particularly popular for those going to the airport.
"Even though we pride ourselves on providing on-demand rides, we totally get it," Kaitlin Durkosh, an Uber representative, tells the Freep via e-mail. "When you've got somewhere to be at a very specific time, it’s nice to have extra assurance that a ride will be available when you need it."
Uber rides, from downtown Detroit to the airport, are generally cheaper than cabs and limo services.
Tthe Freep reports that cabbies aren't happy competing with Uber and say government regulations hurt them when competing for customers. Checker Cab may deploy the Uber-like "Taxi Hail" smartphone app for Detroit cabs next year.
