Business & Tech

Uber Starts Deploying Taxis to Silicon Valley

The taxi-calling app is ready to deploy a fleet of cars to Menlo Park, Redwood City, and the rest of Silicon Valley's bedroom communities.

Uber announced on Wednesday that its fleet of taxis will be available in Silicon Valley starting today.

Uber is a mobile phone application that allows a person to hail a cab from where ever they are, 24 hours a day. The transportation technology company has connected people with traditional taxi companies in major metropolitan areas such as San Francisco and New York since 2010 to facilitate rides. 

It works with local taxi companies in the role of a dispatcher. Users are able to see where their taxi is on a map, while they wait. This is particularly useful at two in the morning when no taxis are in sight. Uber users do not have to carry money; they only need to upload their debit card information to the app and it takes care of paying the cab driver. 

The motivation for entering this new market was the fact people are challenged to find taxis on the Peninsula, often waiting for extended stretches of time for one to arrive.  

Ilya Abyzov, San Francisco General Manager at Uber, said: “I lived in Palo Alto and can vouch for the fact that the South Bay has some of the most expensive and least reliable taxis in the country. The launch of uberX here finally gives South Bay residents an option that's better, faster, and cheaper than a taxi.”

Uber’s three types of cars uberX, UberBlack, and UberSUV will be available to people in Silicon Valley from San Jose to San Francisco. The app is available on both Android and iOS devices. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here