Krislyn Placide

krislyn.placide@indystar.com

Why did Uber come to Greater Lafayette?

"We've seen thousands of residents checking to see if Uber was in Lafayette," said Pooneet Kant, the company's general manager of regional expansion.

Ask and you shall receive.

Uber made its relationship with Greater Lafayette official at 11 a.m. Thursday.

"It's a safe, affordable way for people to get around on a budget," Kant said. "Uber rates are nationally 40 percent cheaper than a taxi."

The service, which started in San Francisco in 2009, has made a splash in larger cities. It came to Indianapolis last summer. Bloomington and South Bend are also on the Uber map.

Uber connects people who need rides to drivers via a smartphone app. Through GPS, the app shows users where their car is in real time. Once the user arrives at a destination, the app deducts payment from a stored credit card or PayPal account. Then, both the user and the driver can rate the experience.

Similar models exist. Lyft is one of Uber's major competitors in metro areas. Uber has recently been under fire for recruiting Lyft's drivers.

Safety a concern

Some people are reluctant to get into a car with a stranger. Gwen Seamon, a Purdue University pharmacy student, said she was at first "sketched out" by the idea of ride sharing. Bad experiences with taxis nudged her toward Uber.

"I had a taxi driver who made me go to an ATM at 2:30 in the morning," Seamon said. Since then, she has taken rides in Uber cars in Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati and New York City.

Uber says before a driver is hired, the company looks at county-level records, multistate and federal databases, sex offender registries and motor vehicle records.

Paul Branham, a Purdue engineering graduate student who has driven Uber cars in Indianapolis since February, said the background check process took less than a week. He usually works Friday and Saturday nights.

During peak times like weekends and holidays, Uber prices surge.

Fostering innovation

TaxiTapp, a ride sharing alternative, plans to launch in mid- to late September.

The Purdue-based startup also utilizes smartphone apps to connect commuters with rides, but instead of hiring local drivers as independent contractors, TaxiTapp puts the technology in the hands of taxi companies, which then use a cloud-based dispatch system provided by the startup to manage operations and billing. TaxiTapp takes a 10 percent cut from the cab company's fares.

"Our approach is that we still want taxi companies to exist, so we give them new tools to keep up with time and technology," said David Lomiashvili , co-founder of TaxiTapp and a former Purdue student."We help them withstand Uber's assault, in a way."

Uber, Lyft and TaxiTapp are "something students and young professionals feel comfortable using," said Erin Nelson, director of Chamber and Quality of Life Councils at Greater Lafayette Commerce. "It's in line with the way that that demographic communicates and interacts with the world already."

Duane Flack, chief operating officer for Locomotives Lafayette, said he doesn't know if an app is in the company's future. Still, he questions Uber's legality. "We've been doing this for close to 20 years," he said "As technology grows, we'll have to grow."

He added, "We'll have to see if they are governed by the city like we are."

Jen Payne contributed reporting.

Krislyn Placide is a digital producer for the Journal & Courier. Email her at kplacide@jconline.com or find her on Twitter: @dearkrislyn. In a follow-up article, Placide will explore the legality of Uber.