Former taxi CEO bets on local rideshare model

The former CEO of Alberta Co-op Taxis has launched R-Hero, a rideshare app that he says combines the best qualities of the traditional local taxi industry and multinational tech companies.

"I've been part of the vehicle-for-hire bylaws, and I've been part of the taxi regulations and everything — what I did notice is there is nothing in the market that is kind of the middle between the taxi industry and ridesharing," Uday Kumar Anumanchineni told Taproot.

Anumanchineni said drivers working for large tech companies, such as Uber and Lyft, don't have much control over their work life or transparency with their employer, nor do they have any local support. But if they return to local taxi companies, they have to pay stand rent, a substantial fee that can cut into their earnings.

"Not only that (but) the public got used to ridesharing, and the taxi industry is fading away," said Anumanchineni, who left Alberta Co-op Taxis in April 2025.

Anumanchineni saw firsthand how vehicle-for-hire regulations changed when ridesharing first came to Edmonton. He was a general manager at Alberta Co-op Taxis when Uber was operating illegally in 2014, and he was CEO when Edmonton became the first Canadian municipality to legalize it in 2016. That was when he first realized that the taxi industry's traditional dispatching mechanisms had not kept up with technology, he said. On most rideshare apps, the user presses a button and the closest driver comes by in minutes. But with traditional taxis, the drivers operate in zones and wait in a queue to be dispatched to users, meaning the closest driver is not necessarily the one who gets sent to a user.

R-Hero will be able to compete with the ubiquitous Uber and Lyft because it will offer lower rates to customers and better pay to drivers, Anumanchineni said. The company will pay a guaranteed 70 cents per kilometre to drivers, and charge a base price of about $1.25 per kilometre to the customer. The difference will cover administration and insurance costs. R-Hero makes money by taking a commission. The City of Edmonton also charges rideshare companies 30 cents per trip, in addition to fees that scale with a company's fleet.

Anumanchineni told Taproot the app has been downloaded about 9,000 times, and about 600 drivers are working across Edmonton, Red Deer, and Calgary. He said the shuttle service has been especially popular for senior centres and events such as weddings.

Anumanchineni believes customers will support an Edmonton company that also has the convenience of apps like Uber and Lyft.

"There are lots of customers that use the traditional taxis, hundreds and thousands of customers," he said. "The reason they do it is because they want to support the local companies."

Meanwhile, drivers will benefit from having local support instead of a huge tech company, but they won't have to pay the stand rent as they might with a taxi company, Anumanchineni said. R-Hero's offerings include rideshare and taxi, as well as airport transportation. R-Hero drivers will be allowed to drive for Uber and Lyft as well.

Monthly vehicle-for-hire trips in Edmonton have climbed nearly 43% year-over-year, reaching more than two million in June.

A City of Edmonton survey on vehicles for hire closes on Sept. 24. It's meant to gather input on rideshare services, taxis, limousines, and shuttles, gauging satisfaction, safety, accessibility, and desired improvements. The information will inform updates to the Vehicle for Hire program and Bylaw 17400.