Atlanta Uber chief: Service is much more than a taxi

The popular ride-sourcing app Uber is partnering with MARTA to help people travel from transit stations to their final destinations, the company’s general manager for the Atlanta market told a business organization last week.

“We’re actually partnering with MARTA on what we call the Last Mile campaign, to get people from a train station or a bus stop to their final destination,” BuckheadView quoted Keith Radford, Uber’s general manager for the Atlanta market, as telling the Buckhead Business Association.

Radford stressed that Uber is working to be more than just a taxi service. As part of his presentation at the City Club of Buckhead, Radford highlighted a number of the company’s recent promotions, such as a partnership with The Home Depot to deliver Christmas trees.

“We’re not just a service where you’re in a car going from point A to point B. We’re trying to do everything,” the Northside Neighbor quoted Radford as saying. “No idea is a bad idea. As long as it’s to grow the company and is based on numbers and logic, we’ll do it. If we see a need for this, we’ll do it.”

The Georgia General Assembly this past session passed a measure that requires all for-hire drivers, including those at ride-sharing services such as Uber, to obtain a for-hire license and mandates for-hire drivers have insurance. House Bill 225 is currently awaiting Gov. Nathan Deal’s approval.

Uber, which has been operating in Atlanta since August 2012, operates in more than 300 cities in more than 50 countries.

(Photo by Todd DeFeo)