[Ron Gellman]

Hi Folks. Been trying to learn about what one can expect being a potential driver for Uber or the other ridesharing organizations.


I was thinking about operating merely in Westchester County. Mostly north of 287. Was thinking about seeing what the need was for people looking to snag a ride to the train station or perhaps even into the city on occasion for work in the AM.

It appears that I could take individuals from WC NY into NYC without issue......but clearly I would need to shut off the phone and basically drive back to WC NY. That might actually be a feasible business prospect.....assuming that it would be accurate. I'm not 100% clear on how closely Westchester County keeps an eye on things beyond dropping people off at the airport and potentially dropping people off at the White Plains train station.


I'm planning on doing this to build on my personal income and work around a flexible schedule which I have. I do a lot of late AM/mid-day work and some freelancing at night. Was thinking about trying this locally in Westchester just to see if there was a market and whether or not there would be a ton of red tape.


I'm not looking into it as a F/T NYC gig. Glad it's working out for a lot of the guys hustling out there and hang in there keeping up with the regulations.

 

[Ron Gellman]

Thanks for the response. I'm not going to get into a semantic discussion about the services. I recognize that it will be a consistent part of the business challenge regarding how localities determine how they want to manage the situation as long as Uber/Lyft/etc remain in business. I'm neutral in the battle over whether or not the existing taxi services or uber-style services will be the ultimate winners. It's pretty evident that it's a highly 'local' battlefield....and it's def a know your market kind of thing. I am not looking at this is as a FT option, so I have no real interest in trying to compete with the NYC guys. Although this blog has some very interesting info on how the uber fleet has evolved.


My purpose is to see if anyone might happen to be familiar with any Westchester County specific challenges from the 'red tape' department. Certainly the biggest challenge will be competing with existing taxi services and existing crossover NYC TLC licensed operators that have the ability to extend their business beyond the 5 boroughs.