An Amish resident of the Colon village in Michigan has launched his own ride-sharing service with his horse and buggy, and he’s calling it “Amish Uber”.
For $US5 ($7), Timothy Hochstedler will escort riders across the Amish-populated area in a carriage pulled by a Morgan horse.
For someone immersed in a culture that is resistant to modern technology, Hochstedler does seem to have an understanding of developments in transportation networks.
“Uber is the cool thing,” Hochestedler told local CBS affiliate WWMT. “You know, every so many years something new comes in. Uber’s hot right now, so we have the Amish Uber buggies, and just go and deliver people to their front door steps.”
But aside from being a transportation service, Hochestedler’s operation has nothing in common with Uber. Riders don’t use phones to hail the buggy — they just wave it down. And Hochestedler isn’t an official Uber driver or employee. He just refers to his enterprise as “Uber”.
Uber did not respond to a request for comment on this use of their branding. But the company does not provide ride-hailing services in Colon. So for now, Hochstedler doesn’t have much competition.
[WWMT]