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Kelowna  

First ride-hailing company launched in Kelowna Wednesday

Ride hailing hits Kelowna

It's been a long wait, but ride hailing has finally made its way to the Okanagan.

On Wednesday, the first ride-share company launched in Kelowna, with Mayor Colin Basran taking the first short trip with Lucky To Go.

“This was the most exciting thing for us, to be the first in Kelowna, or for that matter in the Okanagan,” said Mandeep Rana, CEO of Lucky To Go.

The company, which operates similarly to more well-known apps like Uber and Lyft, is based out of Victoria, but Kelowna is the first city they've launched in.

“We had planned to launch in Victoria as of today, but because Kelowna was in the pipeline for the future, we got massive interest from Kelowna, the city was very welcoming of this whole concept,” Rana said. “So we had to slow it down over there in Victoria and rush towards Kelowna.”

Rana plans to expand to Victoria, Kamloops, Vernon and Penticton in the future.

The Lucky To Go app lets you track where your driver is, pay through the app and schedule rides in the future.

“Find out for yourself what the difference is between the pricing and the customer service and how easy it is to just book a ride,” he said.

Mayor Basran took the first Lucky To Go ride outside Kelowna City Hall Wednesday afternoon.

“It certainly is a service that people have wanted in our community for a really long time, so I'm happy to see a company be approved by the provincial government and now set to hit our street,” he said.

“City council is open to multiple modes of transportation ... Hopefully this is the first of several companies that will be operating in our community.”

Lucky To Go, which has partnered with the province's BC Taxi Association, was approved by the province in April. 

Currently, the province has approved three other companies to operate ride-hailing services in the – Ripe Rides, Safe Ride Sharing Ltd. and Kabu. On Wednesday, Kabu launched its ride-share service in Kamloops, but it's unclear when these other companies plan to launch in the Okanagan.

Those interested in driving for Lucky To Go must have a Class 4 licence. More information can be found here.



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