Uber Easy: Car Service Makes Colonial Trips in Fort Worth
May 22,2014
Reposted from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
BY GORDON DICKSON
gdickson@star-telegram.com
Robert Wilcox greets his fare with a handshake in downtown Fort Worth. He is wearing a pressed, collared shirt and is enthusiastic about shuttling the customer on the 4.2-mile trip to Colonial Country Club.
He drives a 2014 Toyota Venza that still smells like a new car. Other than a small placard with an “Uber” logo on the windshield, nothing about Wilcox’s vehicle indicates it’s for hire.
Wilcox is a driver for Uber, an upstart company that specializes in arranging taxi-like rides for customers with the press of a button on their smartphones.
As the Crown Plaza Invitational at Colonial gets into full swing this week, Uber is pushing to increase its business in Fort Worth. Golf fans are being offered $20 discounts for their first trip to Colonial on Uber — and drivers such as Wilcox are circling the streets of west Fort Worth ready to pick them up. For residents who live within a few miles of Colonial, the $20 discount essentially makes their first trip on Uber free.
“It’s very relaxing because you’re not in a hurry, and there’s no handling of money,” said Wilcox, who quit his previous job as a long-distance truck driver to drive for Uber and be closer to his east Fort Worth home. “I get a lot of business travelers, people from California (or) New York. Mainly, it’s people in town for a conference, or in a hotel and want to get to the airport. Or someone downtown who wants to go to Colonial.”
To get the $20 discount, download the Uber phone app, create an account, which requires a credit card on file, and input “FWBEAU” when asked for a promotional code.
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