As concerns over taking public transport continue during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, more and more Central Coast residents are choosing to travel by taxi or rideshare.
The Coast’s newest rideshare company, Ola, says it has saved customers $4,054 since it launched in the region late last year, mainly through frequent-rider special offers.
Ola drivers on the Coast have now clocked up over 12,170km.
Signing up earlier this year as an Ola driver was Lindsay Aristobil-Adele of Narara.
“I used to work in city but was made redundant,” he said.
“My brother, who is a rideshare driver in Canberra, suggested I take it up and I looked into it.
“I thought if I didn’t like it, I could always stop, but it’s been fabulous – you can choose your own hours and Ola offers a very fair deal for drivers.”
Aristobil-Adele said people had taken Ola in their stride.
“The people on the Central Coast are laid back, friendly, courteous and polite and I’ve had nothing but good feedback,” he said.
“When lockdown first started in March, people simply weren’t going out, but as restrictions have eased, more and more are looking for an alternative to public transport.
“One of my concerns was that I might encounter drunk, irresponsible customers, but I haven’t had any issues whatsoever.
“Things have picked up a lot recently, particularly on weekends, because people are still scared to catch trains and buses.”
Aristobil-Adele said the new sanitisation station for point-to-point vehicles at West Gosford was one of the State Government’s best initiatives.
“I use it every day, sometimes twice a day, and the staff are very accommodating.
“People can always feel confident their rideshare car is well sanitised thanks to this service.”
Once passengers have booked an Ola ride via the app, they are sent a unique four-digit code which is then shared with the driver before the ride can begin.
Terry Collins