Where Did All the Ubers Go? Northern Express hails some rides and learns why toting takeout is better than porting people
By Brighid Driscoll Is there a better airport experience to be had at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City? I don’t think so. The postage-sized airport is pleasant. It’s clean and quiet, and its small size makes for a simple, streamlined experience. Never have I dreaded navigating a long TSA line or long-distance run to another terminal at Cherry Capital. What I found myself dreading the last time I returned from a trip was finding a way home. A few Sundays ago, I was sitting outside of the airport refreshing an open Uber app roughly every 10 minutes. Each time a message popped up on the screen telling me that there were no cars available. After grappling with the thought of hoofing it several miles to my home at nearly 11pm, it occurred to me to try calling a local cab company. Within 20 minutes, About Time Transportation arrived to give me a ride, and I was surprised and relieved. The experience got me wondering: How have local cab companies fared over the last two years with the onslaught of ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft? How have all of those companies fared through the pandemic? (Hint: Not great.) So where are all the drivers going? I dialed up some local drivers to find out. SHIFT INTO REVERSE Uber and Lyft have been operating in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties since
2017. Independent drivers signed up to give rides in their own cars whenever they made themselves available, and they got paid for doing so. For many, it was an easy way to make extra cash. For others, it was a full-time job. Suttons Bay resident Marti Johnson started driving for Uber soon after they launched in the area. She said it was a great way to meet new people, make money, and test out material for her comedy routine. Through meeting some of those new people, she learned that she could operate as an independent ride service and make more money. She gained more control over pricing, set her own rates and schedules, and also started offering wine tours. “Uber was the first time I worked as a driver,” Johnson says. “I wanted to be able to help people out and make extra money. But I was busy enough with private drives that I just didn’t drive [for Uber] anymore when the pandemic struck. I didn’t need to.” Although Northern Express wasn’t able to access any data on the number of Uber or Lyft drivers working locally before and after the onset of the pandemic, it’s likely demand for rides sharply decreased when restaurants, bars, and many other social venues closed. As local businesses re-opened, however, it appears few drivers returned to the companies. On a recent Friday night, one Northern Express staffer waited more than an hour before the single Uber driver working that night was available to give him a twomile ride home from an Elmwood Township eatery on West Bay.
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When asked about the extensive wait, the driver told our rider that he is often the only driver available. Most Uber drivers, he said, quit altogether or switched to drive for meal-delivery services, which were in high demand during the height of the pandemic and continue to be now. The working conditions when delivering food instead of passengers, he added, are better; no drunk or unruly passengers and less risk of exposure to COVID-19. Johnson has found that Uber and Lyft’s loss has proved to be her gain. “I just had these four gals who were staying at Island View Cottages call me. They were stuck at Chateau Chantal because they had thought they could just Uber back. Thankfully, someone gave them my card, so I was able to give them a ride.” SO WHAT ABOUT LOCAL CABS? If anyone knows the cab business, it’s Ashley Montgomery. The Traverse City local has worked with cabs since she was 15 years old. She previously owned Cool Cab and helped start About Time Transportation. “My grandpa was a trucker, and my grandma drove school buses, so driving is in my blood,” she says. “When I was a stay-athome mom, I did not want to drive a bus. I’m with kids all the time at home! When I’m at work, I don’t want to deal with them.” But because she has young kids, she wanted a flexible job. Working as a driver for local cab companies gave her that flexibility and eventually inspired her to launch her
own service, Cool Cab, in August 2018. The competition from Uber and Lyft wasn’t easy, but Cool Cab withstood it, even adding a new SUV to her fleet of minivans. Montgomery managed to hang on for several months after the pandemic started — even offering free deliveries of groceries and other necessities to help the community that spring. But by the second shutdown in November, it had become too much. Business slowed again to a crawl and keeping drivers on staff became a burden. She closed Cool Cab before November 2020 was out. Montgomery tried to drive for Uber after closing her business but was denied based on the year of her car. (Drivers must own a vehicle that is 15 years old or newer.) The neatly kept fleet of cabs Montgomery used for Cool Cab were older model cars. In her
