By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Vermont can be tricky without access to a car. Public transportation is limited, and folks often live too far to walk to their destinations. Until recently, there wasn’t much the carless could do other than hit friends and family up for rides to work, to the store, to the doctor, to the airport.
Now, however, the Brandon area is served by at least two paid car services, including its first Uber.
Anyone who finds themselves without a car can avail themselves of these services for rides to and/or from destinations near and far.
Dorothea Langevin of Brandon has been offering her driving services since March of this year and is now Brandon’s only official Uber driver. For those who don’t have access to the Uber phone app, Langevin takes ride requests through her own service E.V. Shuttle Rides.
“I’ve always owned a car in the 30 years I’ve been living in the state and always liked driving,” said Langevin. “I always took the flexibility of my own vehicle quite for granted. Moving to Brandon from Middlebury, I became aware of a gap in transportation I wasn’t aware of before.”
Langevin is a relatively recent arrival in Brandon and saw an opportunity to provide a necessary service to a new community in which she felt welcomed. Equipped with a new Tesla and a commercial driver’s insurance policy, she began offering paid rides to those who need them.
“I realized how important transportation is to the viability of a community,” she said.
Langevin’s clients use her services of a wide range of reasons. There are those whose own vehicles are temporarily out of commission. Some folks don’t want to leave their own cars at the airport or train station. Others are just visiting and don’t have access to a car (guests at local inns often call her). And some people simply can’t afford the expense of a vehicle and find it more economical to call Langevin when necessary than to pay for gas, insurance, etc.
Langevin joined the Uber network for the ease of the phone app and for the brand recognition. Uber requires a background check of all its drivers, who must have clean driving and criminal records. The company also insists on certain standards of comfort and safety in its drivers’ vehicles.
Once she was an official Uber driver, Langevin spent the summer gaining experience up in Burlington, where there’s an established network of other Uber drivers. She boasts a perfect 5-star rating from her clients.
“I’ve worked hard for that,” she says. She’s completed over 500 rides and spends 10 hours per day, 5 days per week in her car.
The cost of a ride is set by Uber if the ride is requested through the app. If requested from her directly, she charges $1.50/mile plus a charge for pick-up if the distance is great. For example, a pick-up at Burlington Airport would likely incur a travel charge for the time it takes her to travel from Brandon to Burlington.
But distance is generally not a deterrent for Langevin. If she can fit the ride into her schedule, she’s generally willing to cover longer distances. She recently drove a client 4 hours each way to a destination in New York.
However, Langevin cautions that because of the rural nature of the area and the distances she often covers, it’s usually best to pre-arrange rides with her to ensure her availability.
“There’s a good chance I’m not going to be right around the corner if someone requests a ride at the last minute,” she said.
Langevin is willing to drive from 10 a.m. to roughly 8 p.m. Rides after 8 p.m. can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis, though Langevin does not provide late-night rides home for folks who have had too much to drink at a bar or party.
“It’s a safety issue,” she said.
According to Langevin there’s a need for other drivers in the area and that the gig is perfect for “retired, outgoing people with reliable cars who want to make some money.”
Anyone interested in arranging a ride can contact her through the Uber app or by texting her at (802) 458-1847. Langevin prefers texts to voice calls.
Langevin is not the only car service in town, however. Brandon resident (and Selectboard member) Tim Guiles also provides rides to those who need them.
“This is my second year offering rides in my electric car,” said Guiles. “My typical ride is to or from Burlington Airport, but I’ve also given rides to and from Middlebury, Rutland, Hanover, NH, Boston, Albany, and even Princeton, NJ. I give rides as a hobby, so I’m not always available. I fit rides around my other activities. I’ve driven to NJ several times, and it would be fun to go anywhere in North America if someone wanted me to drive them there…and I could find time in my calendar.”
Guiles charges $1.50 per miles in advance of the scheduled ride and has set fees for common destinations:
Rutland: $45
Middlebury: $45
Burlington Airport: $100
Albany Airport: $160
Montreal Airport: $240
Boston Airport: $270
Anyone interested in scheduling a ride with Guiles can call or text (802) 279-2168.
So the next time you find yourself needing to pick your car up at the mechanic’s or wanting to take the train from Rutland without leaving your car in the lot or having a medical appointment that would be unsafe to drive home from, remember you now have options beyond your circle of friends and family.
