Golden Triangle-based UberDenver brings taxicab alternative to Denver, primed to grow in 2013

With offices at the Golden Triangle's Galvanize, UberDenver, the local office of San Francisco-based Uber, launched last summer. 

 

Now in about 20 cities from Amsterdam to Vancouver, Uber provides a smartphone app that helps better connect licensed limousine drivers with customers. The fare, which is about 25 percent higher than a taxi, is automatically billed to a card on file.

 

The technology allows for a more streamlined and efficient process than hailing a cab on the street, says UberDenver GM Will McCollum.

“Instead of a client finding a car or a cab, we use a GPS signal on an iPhone or Android smartphone,” he explains. “You can see the driver coming on the app. It usually takes three to five minutes.”

 

The company has three employees in Denver, nearly 200 partner drivers and is poised to grow locally in 2013, says McCollum.

 

But the service also helps catalyze growth at partner companies like Special Times Limousine in Brighton.


Special Times Limousine Owner Kevin Labonte says UberDenver generated $85,000 for him in the last four months of 2012, allowing him to bring on another driver and buy another car. 

 

“It's good for business,” says Labonte. “It's also good for Denver. It provides a nice alternative to the taxicabs.”

 

UberDenver could be bracing for a challenge from the state's taxi regulators at the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. The company successfully fought off a similar policy challenge in Washington, D.C. It also partners with taxi companies in Boston, Chicago and other cities with its UberTAXI product.