WELLINGTON COUNTY – A shortage of drivers for Wellington County’s ridesharing service has been filled after a dip in the number of rides able to be given was seen in May.
An economic development report stated in May there were 10 less rides serviced than in April due to driver availability for Ride Well, the county’s Uber-like ridesharing service operated by RideCo.
The service has generally seen growth month-to-month with COVID lockdown and increased restriction periods as an exception.
The report noted as an example that in one week of May there were only two drivers available compared to the usual three or four.
“The result was a decrease in completed rides and more failed attempts for participants trying to book a ride,” the report stated, adding RideCo is actively recruiting drivers to fill full-time spots.
Crystal Ellis, county economic development director, confirmed an employee shortage and hiring difficulties felt in multiple industries has impacted Ride Well.
“We have been down basically one driver for the last while and we’re trying to fill that need,” Ellis said.
To help offset this, the county put job postings from RideCo on social media to make sure local people were aware of these opportunities.
This may have been successful as Ellis said RideCo has filled vacant full-time driver positions and the number of hours on the road will be able to pick-up accordingly.
With three full-time drivers, Ellis said the service runs 22 vehicle hours per day. When there are four drivers, this increases to 30 vehicle hours per day and therefore there is potential to service more rides.
With the reintroduction of shared rides, which were brought back in April after being shelved due to COVID, Ellis expects this will also make the number of rides and users serviced to climb.
A driver shortage is something the economic development director said is something for them to be mindful of as the service grows.
“As our service grows, that’s when we would increase the number of vehicle hours too, so as it grows we need more drivers to operate the service,” Ellis said. “We have to make sure we balance that.”
She added RideCo are almost always looking for drivers to work on a casual or part-time basis to fill in gaps when full-time employees are unavailable.
