Uber is a transportation company that hires regular people to become drivers. People in need of rides use the Uber app to quickly find a ride, and a notification is sent to your driver who comes to your location. Essentially, anyone with spare time in their day can work for Uber to become a part-time cab driver to make a little more money to have in their pocket.

Uber was founded in 2009 by Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp but in the past year, the service for Uber has grown significantly. As an Uber driver, you’re not only meeting the standards of Uber, you can be rated by your experience as a driver and be given feedback to become a better driver.

With the Uber app, you can request rides, find people in need of a ride, and pay via your mobile phone. Uber allows you to enter your pick-up and drop-off locations to get a fare estimate for your trip. Uber offers a variety of choices for a ride – UberX being the cheapest for everyday use, UberTaxi a ride without the hassle, UberBlack a private driver with a high-end sedan, UberSUV for rides that can carry up to 6 people in style, and UberLux the finest rides. Instead of having a timed schedule you have to follow, you can decide to work whenever and wherever depending on who’s in need of a ride.

A professional Uber Driver  told The Herald that, “being an Uber Driver isn’t the best job in the world, it puts a lot of extra wear and tear on your vehicle and has become quite a dangerous job, passengers often intoxicated don’t know what they are doing or saying making the driver vulnerable to an attack.” An example of this occurred in California where an Uber driver was beaten by his passenger. “Deciding when you want to work comes in handy when you have a tight schedule which benefits myself and others,” our source told us. “I’m glad to be an Uber driver and I hope to move forward by working for this business.”

The Holyoke High Herald conducted a Twitter poll in which the students answered the question: How likely would you be to use the driving service Uber if you needed a ride? Out of all the votes, 48% voted very likely, 25% not likely, 20% never, and 7% not even knowing what Uber is. These results prove out of the votes about half of the students that attend Holyoke High school would call an Uber driver if in need of a ride.

There is some controversy around Uber when compared to traditional taxi services. Both Uber and taxi companies share the same purpose of bringing passengers to their desired locations, but Uber is a chance for people with other jobs to be as drivers in their spare time and make extra money. Most taxi companies are spread out within big cities for example New York City, but with Uber any driver within your area will be available to pick you up within a few minutes. Taxi companies are worried they’re losing out on business because of Uber but in reality drivers partnered with Uber generally aren’t working full time driving people, and usually have a main job while a taxi driver’s main job is to drive people as much as they can.