The job is part people mover and part therapist, says Brian Ward, Squamish's first Uber driver.
In May 2023, Uber received approval from B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) for a licence transfer from Richmond-based ReRyde to operate across the province.
The company announced in November that Squamish was one of the places it was expanding to.
Ward launched his SUV, a 2023 Chevy Equinox, as an Uber a couple of weeks ago.
He worries about the timing, given the tariff war with the U.S. and a movement to support Canadian businesses at all costs.
He hopes that it doesn't mean boycotting his ride-hailing service because of it.
Uber was founded in 2009, originally exclusively operating in San Francisco.
It now operates in 70 countries.
"We're driving for Uber Canada," Ward stresses.
"I'm still buying gas [in Squamish] every day. I'm still eating out lunch, I'm still paying my rent, I'm still paying GST. All you're doing is hurting Canadians," he said, of folks who boycott companies based out of the U.S. without looking at local factors that play into it.
Ward has lived in Squamish for 40-odd years.
In the early 1980s, he and his young family were living in North Vancouver, but they needed more affordable housing.
"I wanted to rent a house for $300 a month. I'm not kidding,” Ward said, noting he found it in Squamish.
He and his then-wife had two young kids at the time.
They moved to Valleycliffe, renting the top of a house, which included three bedrooms and a beloved fireplace for that low monthly price.
‘Where's Main Street?’
At first, it was a bit of a culture shock to move from a relative city to Squamish, Ward acknowledges.
When he first drove up, he asked someone where the main street was.
"The girl says, 'That's it,'" he recalled with a laugh.
"There was no McDonald's ... There was a pulp mill, there was a logging mill, there was a chemical plant, there was BC Rail."
He drove a taxi for 20 years and had a lot of interactions with folks who worked at the now-defunct BC Rail, he said.
"I did all their Christmas parties, I did all their events … I've got a rich, long history doing all this stuff. ... It's all involved moving people from A to B. That's what it's always involved."
He later drove for Whistle, an earlier ride-hailing company, in Whistler and Tofino, which no longer exists.
When he saw that Uber was starting up in Squamish, he reached out to them.
With the need for rides likely out pacing the availability of taxis and other options, he thought it was the “perfect time to do this.”
‘Everybody tells you their problems’
With both taxi driving and ride-hailing, people tend to pour their hearts out from the back seat, Ward said.
"You're a psychiatrist. Everybody tells you their problems. As soon as they get in the car, they start telling you the problems. I don't know what it is," he said, with a laugh.
The software with Uber means it is safer for the drivers than it used to be.
"I've been assaulted. I've been beaten. A guy tried to stab me. I had my shoulder dislocated, all because they're drunk and they don't know what they're doing. Had my hearing aid smashed. Had a guy punch me in the side of the head," he said, of things that have happened over his driving career.
Driving for Uber, people can't get into the car and be anonymous.
"The thing with ride-hailing [software] is we know who you are. We have your phone number; we have your email. We have your credit card, we have your full name," he said.
On the flip side, the passengers get to see passenger reviews of the drivers and can track the car as it comes to them.
Ward has a Class 4 unrestricted licence, he noted.
"And you have to keep your abstract clean," he said.
"You can't get a bunch of tickets."
And there are criminal records checks for drivers.
Also, neither the passenger nor the Uber driver needs to carry cash, as everything is done online, another reason Ward feels safer driving now, he said.
"You're tracked all the way from wherever I am. Like, if I'm at McDonald's and I have to come to The Squamish Chief's office, you can see McDonald's on your phone, and you can see me driving right to The Chief's office. And as soon as I pull up, you know that I'm here because the app will tell you that I've arrived,” he said.
“‘OK, I know Brian's coming to get me. I don't have to worry about it. He's a good driver."
Find out more about Uber in Squamish on the Uber site, or download the app.
