Medford, Ore. — Medford is moving forward with plans to bring ride sharing to the valley. The decision was just made Thursday night, but it’s already proving popular with some local businesses.
“One of the first things that I did when I got to the hotel is hold out my Uber app,” said customer Rick Pay. “Looked to see if there were any Ubers available and there weren’t. I have to say I was a little disappointed.”
As are many visitors coming to the region from other cities.
“Just this last weekend, I had a lot of people from out of town that were kind of incredulous what we didn’t offer those ride options,” said John Dials, wine specialist at Roxy Ann Winery.
That’s about to change. Medford City Council passed an ordinance Thursday night that will allow ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft to service the area. It’s welcome news to businesses that serve alcohol.
“I think the convenience of being able to handle that in the way that people are accustomed to will probably be good,” Dials said.
Helping out customers like Pay – who is more than used to pulling out his phone to catch a ride.
“I use it a lot. It’s very convenient, it’s reasonably priced, and I find the drivers to be the drivers to be very nice and very informative of the area that I’m in,” Pay said.
Pay said it’s a good resource to have.
“I’ve used it, actually, all over the country because I travel quite a bit on business,” Pay said.
Even if you’re not drinking.
“It would have been handy to take one to my daughter’s house,” Pay said.
If you are drinking, local wineries are happy there are more options for customers to get home safely.
“Hopefully it will encourage as much responsibility as possible when it comes to driving after any kind of drinking,” Dials said.
Ride sharing will become legal in Medford starting Dec. 1.
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