Uber may come to TT

The company held one of several on boarding seminars for potential drivers at the Radisson Hotel, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain, on Monday evening, for those who wanted to get on board.

According to Andion, Uber was an app that would facilitate passengers who needed to get from one point to another, safely. “You use your phone, select the app and say I want to go to whatever place.

In a few minutes a car will arrive, you will have all the information about the driver, the licence plate, the name of the driver, the number to contact him. You will know the car and the driver will know who you are and where he or she is supposed to drop you off. You do not have to tell them the address they already know. It is very easy and convenient and will facilitate how you move around Trinidad,” Andion said.

This was one of the attractive features of Uber..it provided a sense of safety and security for those who wanted fast taxi service, especially for female passengers who travelled late at night.

“Safety is one of the main concerns.

Imagine your alternatives right now. You can hail a taxi or a private car in the streets and you don’t know anything about them, they don’t know anything about you. You don’t know if they have any record of crime or sexual assault.

“We do background checks with our drivers. We ask for a certificate of good character to ensure that they do not have any previous crime records. We do an analysis to determine who may be bad drivers.

With data screening we know our drivers are safer. We have the client information, we know where they turn on the app, we have their driver’s licence, we know where they are, so we have a lot of information,” Andion told Newsday.

Andion said a potential driver must have a car with the manufacturer’s date from 2005, a valid driver’s licence, the sticker to show where the car had been inspected, a certificate of good character, and then did a background check where they had a psychometric exam done. He said the response has been “amazing”, and was surprised by how many Trinidadians had responded and actually registered online.