Armed Rideshare Drivers May Be An Option Soon For Texans

As the price of private automobile possession continues to rise and other people worldwide rejoice the comfort of rideshare providers like Uber and Lyft, a small firm primarily based out of Atlanta, Georgia, plans to open store in Texas, providing clients armed drivers to get them to their vacation spot.

Whereas the preferred rideshare purposes like Uber and Lyft have transcended their standing as nouns, having turn into verbs in our each day vernacular, lesser-known choices can be found. One in every of these corporations, BlackWolf, presently accessible in a number of cities throughout America, plans to develop into the nice state of Texas, particularly Dallas, Houston and Austin. Usually this wouldn’t be information, however there’s a catch. The corporate actively seeks to rent drivers with backgrounds in regulation enforcement or the navy who’re permitted to hold firearms and capable of cross obligatory background checks. 

BlackWolf permits riders to pick whether or not they favor armed or unarmed drivers, giving passengers the choice primarily based on their consolation stage. Founding father of BlackWolf, with 19 years of expertise within the non-public safety trade, Kerry KingBrown spoke concerning his reasoning behind providing armed drivers to clients. 

“The thought got here from certainly one of my purchasers that I used to be transporting; she was caught in human trafficking for about three years…she gave me the concept and stated you could create one thing, some kind of transportation for folks like me and my daughter,” stated KingBrown.

Having launched in 2023, the BlackWolf software has greater than 300,000 downloads, a small quantity because it stays a comparatively new firm. Whereas the rideshare service is rising and increasing, clients can anticipate considerably fewer drivers accessible in comparison with Uber and Lyft, with simply 45 to 65 drivers unfold between its present territories of Atlanta, GA, Phoenix, AZ, Orlando, and Miami, FL.

“I wished to create one thing for folks like myself, for folks like my previous purchasers, however I wished to make it extra about them… I need them to really feel snug. I need them to have peace of thoughts,” stated KingBrown.

BlackWolf rides are anticipated to value 10 to fifteen p.c greater than the common Uber or Lyft, just like Uber Black charges. KingBrown, nonetheless, says he doesn’t see the rideshare giants as direct competitors attributable to their drivers being unauthorized to hold firearms. For individuals who don’t carry firearms each day or in any other case cannot for one motive or one other, it might be an added layer of safety or consolation understanding they’ve a skilled and permitted driver getting them from A to B. Time will inform how broadly this may occasionally unfold however, within the meantime, freedom-minded people in these cities who want to give their enterprise to corporations whose concepts extra carefully coincide with their very own may have the choice to vote with their wallets.