There was plenty of fanfare Tuesday as Uber finally made its debut in the Central Okanagan.
Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas took the first ride from the ride-hailing giant, arriving outside city hall around noon.
The talk throughout the entire lengthy process of Uber getting approval to service the area has been its arrival in Kelowna, but you can catch a ride in West Kelowna as well.
However, Uber doesn’t service the entire Central Okanagan, or even all of Kelowna, which is understandable given the expansive size of the region.
So where exactly can you utilize Uber in the Central Okanagan? Let’s take a look.
NORTH: The boundary is basically the middle of Duck Lake, which means there is no service in Lake Country. That means the Jammery is just beyond the northern boundary of Uber’s service area, but McKinley Beach to the west is just inside of it.
EAST: Uber covers most of Kelowna to the east, including Black Mountain, but if you were looking to catch a ride to play some golf at Tower Ranch, you’re out of luck. However, the ride-hailing company’s boundary to the east diminishes the further you go south, and we’ll dive into that below.
SOUTH: You can catch a ride pretty far south in Kelowna with Uber. The boundary down Lakeshore Road is at Lebanon Creek, which means you are out of luck if you were hoping to catch a ride to Bertram Creek Regional Park or Cedar Mountain Regional Park. But as mentioned above, it gets a little more dicey as you look to southeast Kelowna. There’s a large chunk of southeast Kelowna that is not inside the service area, including Gallagher’s Canyon, Scenic Canyon and most wineries up in the hills.
WEST: Virtually all of West Kelowna is covered by Uber, which is great for residents who want to spend a night in Kelowna, but the service area does not cover all of the Gellatly neighbourhood or rural Glenrosa properties. Peachland is also not covered by Uber, as the service area stops around Gorman Bros. Lumber just past Glenrosa Road. You can also only take an Uber a few hundred metres up Westside Road.
To see the map of Uber’s service area in the Central Okanagan for yourself, click this link.
