201 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn

April 26, 2019

Uber is showing signs it’s planning to come to Sioux Falls.

The ride-sharing tech company received its sales tax license this week from the state of South Dakota.

That’s a first step toward beginning operations in the city, which also requires licensing. Representatives of Uber have asked about the process in the past but haven’t moved forward with an application yet, according to licensing specialist Jamie Palmer.

Uber also recently contacted the Sioux Falls Regional Airport to ask about requirements for operating there, executive director Dan Letellier said.

Uber’s competitor, Lyft, began operations in Sioux Falls in October 2017. The ride-sharing service has had a notice effect on the airport, Letellier said.

“The use has really grown in the last year with people getting rides to and from the airport,” he said, adding that in the winter months usage was up 150 percent year-over-year, with as many as 180 drop-offs or pickups a day.

Uber’s representative said operations could start within a month, Letellier said. It will have to take the same approach as Lyft at the airport, waiting in a cellphone parking lot or outside a geo-fenced area and paying what he calls a small fee for conducting business at the airport.

“It nowhere near compensates the loss of parking revenue, but it’s something, and in time with the volume of traffic that’s generated for pickup and drop-offs, at some point we’ll probably have to look at reconfiguring where those cars are going to try and maintain traffic flow through the front of the building.”

Lyft went public in March and has seen its stock trade as low as $54.32 per share after going public at $72 and trading as high as $88.60 per share. Uber is in the process of an initial public offering and today set a target rate of $44 to $50 per share, giving it a market cap of $83.8 billion on the high end. It’s expected to go public early next month.

The company is based in San Francisco and says it serves 75 million riders with 3 million drivers.

In addition to its ride service, it offers Uber Eats, a food-delivery service. That service is operating in markets close to Sioux Falls, including Sioux City and Mankato, Minn. Other Uber offerings include a freight service, business transportation service and partnerships with health care organizations. The tech company is working on self-driving vehicles and a futuristic approach to air transportation.

Wondering about the differences between Uber and Lyft? Here’s some perspective from the website ridester.com.