Uber arrives in Scotland
After hitting many of England’s top cities, smart cab service Uber has finally crossed the border to Scotland.
The controversial smartphone-hailing taxi service will be operating in Glasgow from 4pm today, making it the first Scottish city to adopt the service.
As The Scotsman points out, this is the first step in a plan to spread through Scotland over the coming 12 months.
It seems Uber has struggled to get its service off the ground in the nation’s capital, Edinburgh, despite announcing that it was launching in the city last year. The issue appears to have been with finding appropriate staff to run an efficient service.
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There have been no such troubles in Glasgow, it seems. Hundreds of drivers are said to have signed up to work for Uber in what is the company’s biggest UK launch yet. Demand seems to be particularly high in the city.
“There has been huge demand over the last few months in Glasgow from customers looking at the app,” said general manager for Uber Glasgow Max Lines. “We have been pushing all of this week to get as many drivers to sign up as possible.”
Uber has said that it hopes to have its Edinburgh service up and running within the next two months, and will expand through other Scottish cities (including Aberdeen) in 2016.