If you are someone in the Twin Ports who relies on Uber or Lyft for rides you may have noticed that there have been longer wait times or no rides available at all. Apparently this is a problem nationwide since businesses have reopened and there is set plan on when this situation will improve.

This may be in part to the overall worker shortage that has hit every industry across the country. In Minnesota and Wisconsin the extra unemployment benefits that were introduced during the pandemic do not end until September which has some wondering if that is part of why so many businesses cannot find workers right now.

Jeff Bushnell is an Uber and Lyft driver saying that as soon as he turns the App On it connects him to a rider within seconds.  Besides needing rides for work or to run errands a big part of their businesses is driving people to and from bars. Avery Helback, is a senior at UMD said many college students end up having to walk home form the bars and that can be 5 miles or so which is not always the safest option or worse case yet, they may drink and drive.

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Kurt Lagarde is co-owner of SK Taxi and offers rides in Duluth and Superior said to FOX21:

I’d say we’ve probably doubled our business in the last year. I think when the pandemic hit we actually got busier because you get people taking the cabs and not riding public transportation on the buses. Now after the pandemic, you know we’re definitely seeing new faces, we’re seeing a lot more groups on weekends going out.

Thankfully the Duluth Police Department has not seen an increase in DUI arrests but is expecting that number to increase with big holidays on the way like The 4th Of July and Labor Day Weekend. Hopefully Lyft and Uber will be able to hire more drivers soon as the need in the Twin Ports for alternative transportation is huge, and the cab companies cannot pick up all that slack. I personally know a few people who do not have their own vehicles and rely on these drivers for work and other places they need to go on a daily basis.

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