Uber Car Service Arrives In Lansing And East Lansing

LANSING, MI (WLNS) - Uber car service announced it's open for business in Lansing and East Lansing.It's the ride sharing service taking the world by storm, Uber. They've made their way into Lansing and East Lansing.East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett is an Uber user.

“If anyone’s downloaded the app already you can get an Uber right now in East Lansing this afternoon.”

He agrees catching a ride is Uber easy. First you download the app, link the account to a credit card, a few clicks and you can actually see your driver en route to your location.Triplett says the move is not about putting local cab services on the back burner, it's about options.

"People will continue to use cabs. They'll continue to use their personal vehicles, keep using CATA, but this will be one of many of options that all of our residents will have to choose from now. Whatever works best for them and where they need to go.

”People can already use Uber in over 150 cities, spanning 40 countries. Triplett says he's glad Lansing and East Lansing hopped on the trend."

They can choose to embrace innovation or they can choose to fight innovation and I’m glad that we're choosing to embrace it here in the Lansing area.

”Detroit and Ann Arbor are among those Uber-cities. The service saw some push back when they started up in Ann Arbor, due to regulatory issues.

Mayor Triplett says they are working with uber to regulate background checks, car inspections and insurance.Uber’s General Manager for Regional Expansion says the company is willing to work with officials to make the roll out as smooth as possible.

"We are open to working with city officials in all cities that we launch. To make sure they understand exactly how we operate. So we can come up with a common sense approach to how to deal with a new business model.” Uber says starting now rides are free for two weeks in the Lansing area.