By Laura Fitzgerald, Senior Staff Writer
Within the year since Uber's Oxford launch, Miami students have placed a heavy demand on the few Uber drivers available.
Oxford Uber driver David Fox said he drives around 50 students in a five or six hour shift. Most of the students he drives are underclassmen or students that live off campus.
"It's very productive. From what I get from students they say there are not enough Uber drivers," Fox said.
Fox said there are about five to six drivers in Oxford, but on any given day there are about three drivers available.
Uber's expansion to the Oxford area and addition of new drivers fits with their national trend of growth. Over 120,000 new Uber drivers were added in 2014 according to "An Analysis of the Labor Market for Uber's Driver-Partners in the United States" by Johnathan V. Hall, head of economic research at Uber, and Alan Kruege, professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University.
Many students already have experience with Uber because they used it in their hometowns, Fox said.
"A lot of people use it in the cities that they came from, so they're already equipped when they got here," Fox said. "They already use it, they're already set up, have the app and everything."
Sophomore Carly Berndt said she uses Uber about twice a month. She said that if cars are available it's a reliable, easy mode of transportation and Ubers are generally faster than taxis.
"The taxis here a lot times you have to wait a lot longer or they won't pick up your call. It can be twenty minutes but with Uber I never have to wait more than ten," Berndt said.
There are times however that cars are not available, like early in the morning, Berndt said.
Fox said the Uber app gives it a competitive edge over the taxis because it's easy to use the app to get a driver. Customers can track the Uber driver on the app and know exactly how long it will take the driver to get there, a feature that is not available with taxis.
The fare is readily available in the app, so customers know exactly how much they are paying. Buses around Oxford are free for Miami students, and prices among taxis vary greatly.
The app also offers the customer more personal interactions with the driver because it allows the customer to see the person and the car that is driving them. Customers can call the driver if there is a problem.
Oxford Taxi driver Jimmy Ray said he is not worried about Uber cutting into his business and he has not noticed a decrease in traffic since Uber arrived in Oxford.
Ray said Uber cannot compete with the taxis because there are not enough Uber drivers to make a dent in his business. The Oxford taxi service has been in existence for seven years and it operates 24 hours, seven days a week.
The Oxford Taxi costs $5 for up to five people for any trip within Oxford, while Uber prices vary depending on the length of the trip. A trip from Denison to Minnich costs $4 for one person.
Sophomore Morgan Mittler tried to use Uber in Oxford last year, but could never find an available car.
While she has a car this year, she said she wished more drivers were available when she did not have one.
She used Uber in Columbus multiple times at an Ohio State football game.
Mittler said she feels safer using Uber because it's a large, reputable company. The taxis in Oxford don't have that same reputation as a legitimate business because they are small, local businesses that don't have the large oversight that Uber does.
"Every time I see a taxi it's a person with a cigarette hanging out the window," Mittler said. "It's just like a minivan with homemade stickers on the sides."
Fox said he is always busy when he drives.
"I just feel it's a good business in Oxford. A lot of people use it," Fox said.