Renae Yanero came to town for Mother’s Day.

Yanero, who grew up in the Fairmont area, now lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and she’s concerned for her mother, who is 95. As her mother has gotten older, her driving ability has deteriorated. Her mother still drives in town, but avoids the highway now. This is a problem when doctors appointments call for her to be in Morgantown.

So Yanero turned to an amenity she normally doesn’t give a second thought about in a larger metropolitan area.

“I thought, well, Mom, I should be able to get you an Uber,” Yanero said. “We could get that set up so you can go out to the doctors, and when you’re done, set it up, call and then you don’t have to worry about driving. Well, I looked into it and came to the conclusion there really isn’t anything reliable to call on.”

While rideshare services like Lyft and Uber are available in Marion County, their downsides come from lack of availability as well as cost. Looking through both apps during rush hour, Lyft charges around $30 for a five-mile ride. Uber charges around $20. However, pricing changes depending on time of day and how many drivers are on shift. In one instance, Lyft had no cars in the area and asked upwards of $100 for a driver to come down from Pittsburgh.

“I would not put my mother in that position,” Yanero said.

The transportation dilemma Yanero’s mother faces isn’t uncommon in a rural area like Fairmont.

David Hindmarsh moved here from Brooklyn, New York City a few years ago. He also encountered reliability problems trying to use Lyft and Uber as most of his rides would end up canceling or be two or three hours out. About a year ago, Hindmarsh decided he wanted to do something about it.

“I started noticing in our economy in this area, our income is very low,” he said. “One of the main reasons that they are having a hard time with jobs is because the bus system only runs to a certain time, and finding Ubers or Lyfts or bus service is pretty much impossible. It was limiting a lot of people I know from actually getting employment.”

This year, Hindmarsh is launching his own rideshare service. It snowballed from him giving one person a ride to routinely giving several others a ride as well. Hindmarsh said the demand was so high he eventually started spending most of his day driving people around. Hindmarsh said he already applied for a business license and commercial insurance for his new transportation company.

Uber and Lyft is also challenging for drivers as well. JacLynn Lucas works as an Uber driver in the Fairmont area. However, while residents face long wait times, drivers also face long wait times just trying to find someone who needs a ride, she said. Out of the four gig apps she works, Uber comes last in terms of earning. As far as affordability, it cuts both ways, for drivers and passengers.

“Affordable is a double edged sword, right?” Lucas said. “Affordable for you, and then Uber or Lyft not making enough to make it profitable. We have our cost too. You have to have a special insurance to do something like that. You have to have, obviously a nicer car you are constantly putting miles on, your depreciation value on your own property is going down so much that it might not be worth the sweets.”

Overall, Lucas agreed with the observation that rural markets are hard on everybody when it comes to services like Uber or Lyft. Lucas would love to see a government entity come in and provide bigger subsidies for public transit systems so people who live in town have an easier time getting around.

That’s an idea that resonates with Randy Beegle who lives in the Watson area of Fairmont. He is vision impaired to the point where getting a driver’s license is out of the question. He makes daily walks to work, which is a half hour trip for him. Price Cutter, the closest grocery store, is a 30-minute walk. Beegle does a lot of grocery delivery as a result. Beegle said his life is constrained by the tyranny of the bus schedule.

“Let’s say I want to go to the movies,” he said. “I might be able to get out there, but what would happen later, once the movie is out? Would I be able to get back?”

Beegle wants to see the state of West Virginia subsidize more transit options. He said they already do that for some of the major bus lines. The reason why the bus ticket from Morgantown to Charleston is only $15 is due to the government subsidies Barron’s Bus receives. He thinks there should be something similar for rideshare programs.

“I think it would be a really great thing,” Beegle said. “You’ve seen on the Facebook page how many people are always looking for rides in and around here. It’s not so bad for me, I live in town, but what about the people who live a little bit farther out?”

Yanero and Beegle are both interested in what Hindmarsh is trying to set up.

Hindmarsh said his prices are usually $10 lower than what Uber charges anywhere in the immediate Fairmont area. He charged an individual $10 to go from White Hall to East-West Stadium. He charged $25 to go to Bridgeport. Yanero said screening drivers and ensuring passenger safety would be important. Hindmarsh said he’s also applying to qualify for Medicaid transportation.

Beegle, for one, would like to be freed from the bus schedule.

“How nice would it be to be able to go to the movies and get home?” he said.

Hindmarsh can be reached at 347-585-5500 for service.

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