Madras set to join C.O. cities welcoming Uber

(Updates with initial council agreement)

The Madras city council members who are already on board with bringing Uber to town tried to create a consensus Tuesday night. And they succeeded.

The motion to adopt a franchise agreement with the ride-sharing service was given initial approval in a work session before the council meeting, and will be back for a formal council approval at a council meeting on June 13.

“There’s not a lot of tweaks they’re going to be asking for,” Madras Administrative Manager Sara Puddy said before the session. “So more than anything we’re just asking for the council’s overall support.”

“From an economic development standpoint, I see this as another asset to our community,” she added.

There’s an advantage Madras has that Bend and Redmond did not when they welcomed Uber to town — there’s already a framework for Uber in Central Oregon that Madras can follow.

“Having Uber already established in Redmond and Bend — those city councils and those entities have already vetted the process,” Madras Chamber of Commerce Director Joe Krenowicz said. “They’ve done all our work so all we have to do is kind of tag onto it. It’ll be a good thing for us, particularly when it comes to service between the three cities.”

Most of the major taxi companies in Central Oregon are in Bend, so there’s not likely to be much pushback from the Madras public.