Terrebonne considering ride-sharing service

Chris Burrell spends his free time during the week on the road, all in pursuit of some extra cash for his family.

Burrell, the pastor at Kingdom Connection Church in Houma, has been a driver for Uber, a ride-sharing service, for a little more than six months. At least four days a week, Burrell will head from Houma to New Orleans and drive customers around for five-to-six hours at a time, with his shifts sometimes reaching double-digit hours during festival season.

Burrell said he has enjoyed his time driving, as his customers have been courteous and the business’s work-as-you-go ethos for drivers have let him dictate his schedule.

“It’s a good way to make income, and it gives you so much flexibility, because you work basically at your own discretion. You’re not on a set schedule, so it works real well for me,” he said.

While he enjoys his time driving people around the Crescent City, Burrell said the long drive there and back just to start working has worn on him.

“By living so far from New Orleans, and having to drive out there, that’s extra fuel versus an actual New Orleans resident. To journey around the city for all the hours you work and then to drive home, I would say that’s the biggest challenge,” he said.

Burrell may soon get some relief in his commute, as Terrebonne is working on bringing Uber and similar services, such as Lyft, to the parish. According to Terrebonne Parish Planning and Zoning Director Chris Pulaski, the parish first received an application from

Kala Franklin, Uber brand ambassador for Terrebonne, four to six weeks ago.

Pulaski said his department and the parish’s legal department have been working with Franklin on getting additional information required to obtain a certificate of convenience

and necessity from the Terrebonne Parish Council.

The departments have also been drafting an ordinance similar to the state’s that would allow transportation service network companies to operate in the parish.

Pulaski estimated that the ordinance would be placed on the Terrebonne Parish Council agenda for public hearing before the end of April.

The Terrebonne Economic Development Authority has sent a letter in support of Uber coming to the parish. If the ordinance and certificate of convenience are approved, the next step would be to get drivers certified in Terrebonne Parish. Franklin has said he plans to get Uber to Lafourche Parish as well, although efforts there are still preliminary.

The ride-sharing service allows users to download an app on their phones and request a ride from their current location. They can see what drivers are nearby, with an estimate of how long until pickup, and an estimate of the fare before accepting a ride. Drivers work on their own schedules, driving as much or as little as they please. Pulaski said bringing ride-sharing to Terrebonne would give more transportation options to those who cannot use public transit in the same way local taxi companies currently do.

“It provides access for transportation to those who may not have it, either elderly or disabled citizens. Maybe they don’t live close enough to a public transit route, or are somehow unable to utilize our public transit system. Maybe it just doesn’t work out for their schedule,” Pulaski said.

Opposition from taxi companies has played out across the nation and in the state as well. Uber, which operates in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Jefferson Parish, has faced lawsuits from taxi companies alleging that Uber presents unfair competition because it does not have to follow all of the same regulations traditional cab companies do. Pulaski said he has not heard anything from taxi companies in Terrebonne Parish, and cab company owners did not return calls for comment by press time.

Franklin, a Houma native, said it was a scare coming back from New Orleans that drove him to push for Uber in Terrebonne. He and a friend would drive in New Orleans from 7 p.m. until 3-4 a.m., with a break in the middle. One night, Franklin noticed his friend, driving ahead on the way home, veering off the road toward the barrier on a bridge.

He alerted his friend with his horn and lights before disaster struck, but Franklin thinks local Uber drivers could reduce their own risk by working on their home turf.

“They know the area; they know Houma better than they know New Orleans. They’re at home, they don’t have to have a long drive home after they had a long day’s work,” Franklin said.

Burrell said he would “most definitely” forego the always-busy New Orleans to drive local people he knows in his hometown.

“It would be so much more convenient to be at home and be able to maneuver around

town. And during times when it’s not busy, I actually have a place to go versus just having to sit around and go to different spots within New Orleans,” he said. •

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