Ride-sharing service Uber is set to conduct a soft launch in Boulder, Colorado. The expansion comes amid a wave of controversies that the San Francisco-based company is currently facing, according to Insurance News Net.
Colorado general manager Will McCollum said: "Boulder's been one of those regions here on the (Colorado) Front Range that definitely has been in the cross-hairs. The original objective was to try to get that 36 corridor working, but we ended up scaling back some of the geography. Now we're getting to a point where that Boulder market is looking great."
However, Uber's entry path into Boulder is also a rocky one. According to Boulder spokeswoman Sarah Huntley, the company has not yet secured a business license to legally operate in the city. In addition, the firm's business model is dependent on a strong demand for its service, which is not yet established in Boulder, the report explained.
Although Uber has already expanded to 15 markets in the US after its 2010 launch, it has also been pebbled with various problems such as lawsuits filed by cabbies and car service providers, regulatory problems, and other fines. The most recent incident was a fatal accident that involved an off-duty Uber driver, the report detailed.
Just recently, a bill was passed to require Uber and similar companies to have liability insurance and thorough background checks for their driver to address the issues being thrown against them, Insurance News Net reported.
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