The ride sharing service Uber held a job fair at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que on Tuesday and more than 150 people attended. Uber is pressuring the New York State Legislature to allow it to operate in upstate New York.
Jim Barber is from just outside of Syracuse and he’s looking for a job. He’s never driven a cab before, but said he feels more comfortable now about being a potential driver for Uber after going to the job fair.
“Especially with everyone having their credit card on file, the drivers and customers, they know who’s going to be in the car,” Barber said.
Uber said it could create more than 700 jobs in the Syracuse area, but about half of Uber drivers only work 15 hours a week. Politicians from across central New York also came out to show their support. Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said Uber will create an element of competition in a marketplace dominated by taxi cab companies.
“I’ve heard from too many people who feel like there is not enough high quality taxi cab, affordable service, in this community," Miner said. "This is a need that we have to meet that the current system is not meeting.”
Drivers use their own cars when they work for Uber. General manager Josh Mohrer said Uber is the primary insurance for drivers, when they are working for the company so it should have no impact on their personal insurance. But Mark Bahouth, who is a cab driver in Syracuse, isn’t buying that.
“When you work for-hire, you’re out and about more and the insurance companies know that and they have tables that show them the risk," Bahouth said. "The reason its high, for-hire insurances, because you're out there on the road a lot. They know that, its more of a risk for them, so its a much higher premium."
Bahouth said Uber is misleading drivers as to how much they will make. He said drivers should take into account the wear-and-tare on their cars, buying gas, paying for repairs and fares that fluctuate.
The state legislature is expected to take up the issue at the beginning of next year. If ride sharing legislation is passed, Uber said it could be up and running within weeks.
