With Kitchener-based Driverseat Inc.'s recent launch in Sudbury, local drivers will have one less excuse to drink and drive.
The company's main service, called “designated driver”, is a cross between the wildly popular Uber app and Operation Red Nose.
If a person has had one too many drinks during a night out, they can use the Driverseat mobile app, available on Android and iOS, to summon a chauffeur, or coachman as the company calls them, who will meet them at their location and drive them home in their own vehicle.
Like Uber, the app provides a constantly updated fare estimate – based on time and distance – and all payment happens automatically through the customer's credit card.
Brothers Brian and Luke Bazely, both originally from Sault Ste. Marie, came up with the idea for the service in 2011.
“We wanted to do something that had real meaning,” said Brian Bazely, who is now the company's CEO. “We were always socially responsible in what we did, but we were seeing friends, family and others who were looking for solutions other than, 'I'll leave my car at the baseball field and come back tomorrow and get it.'”
When the company launched in 2012 they used a call centre to direct drivers to customers.
In the second quarter of 2013 Driverseat launched its first mobile app.
Uber had become more popular by that point and had laid the groundwork for mobile transportation applications.
“What Uber did helped our situation quite a bit because they really got the masses comfortable with using a mobile app to book transportation services,” said Bazely. “Once people have done it for the first time they love it.”
But Bazely said the service is quite different from Uber because it allows people to travel in their own cars.
“There's a certain level of comfort in having your own vehicle. You can leave your jacket in the vehicle, your own phone charger in the vehicle, etc.,” he said.
Driverseat has also expanded beyond the “designated driver” service.
Customers can also reach out to the Sudbury terminal, by calling 705-805-8686 or emailing [email protected], to hire a chauffeur at a cost of $28 an hour.
In addition to driving the customer to their destination, the chauffeur can help them load groceries into their car, carry their bags at the airport, or a variety of other services that are especially helpful for elderly customers, or people with physical disabilities.
Bazely said the the franchise owners carefully choose the drivers through their interview process, and require a clean driving record and criminal background check.
From a regulatory standpoint Driverseat also faces fewer hurdles than Uber, which has faced stiff opposition in a number of municipalities around the world.
“You don't need regulatory approval to drive somebody else's vehicle,” Bazely said.
But he added Diverseat's franchise owners have maintained positive working relationships with the municipalities in which they operate.
Some police officers have even referred people to the service if they've had too much to drink, but weren't over the legal limit.
Bazely said the Sudbury launch has gone well, and the company has seen a lot of engagement on social media.
“Even if you've only had a glass of wine or a couple of beers, the days of being behind the wheel after we've got alcohol in our system are gone,” he added.
