Uber Connects Ottawa

On October 1, 2014, we officially launched uberX in Ottawa. Now that we’re heading into our fifth month of operations, we thought we’d take a moment to look at how Ottawans have been Ubering around the city.

We know that ridesharing is already having a significant impact across North America by providing people with smarter, easier alternatives to getting behind the wheel and Ottawa is certainly no exception. This year, for example, the Ontario Provincial Police came away without a single arrest during the first two weeks of their annual holiday anti-drunk driving highway blitz.

Since October, Uber Ottawa has facilitated thousands of weekend night trips from Downtown Ottawa to the surrounding areas. Between 8PM and 5AM on weekends, almost 50% of trips begin or end in the Byward Market and Elgin Street area. This shows us that people in Ottawa know how to enjoy the nightlife and are turning to a safe, reliable ride at the end of the evening.

Relative Uber trip volumes between areas displayed in blue.

80% of Ottawa’s population does not live within easy walking distance of bus stops served between 2AM and 4AM*. What this means is that we are making safe, reliable and affordable transportation options available to more people in parts of the city where they may not have had easy access before.

Access to OC Transportation between 2:00-4:00AM. Areas in service illustrated in yellow.

While we’ve still got a lot of work to do, we’re making progress together toward the goal of reliable rides and safe roads for everyone. The Uber app was created to make sure people could get rides when and where they need them, no matter what. Based on the data we’ve seen so far, we’re making significant headway on that front in Ottawa and around the world.

*Source: 2011 Canada Census