Kater keeps winning fans in Lower Mainland

IT seems that Kater continues to captivate customers across the Lower Mainland.

Just last June, B.C. Liberal MLA and former minister Rich Coleman created quite a stir when he tweeted: “I was challenged by a friend to try Kater, the new ride share service. I did twice. The App is very good. The service was great. Car arrived in 5 mins, brand new Camry hybrid, great driver. Part of the solution?”

Now, Jordan Bateman, Vice President, Communications and Marketing for the Independent Contractors and Business Association (ICBA), who’s been well-known for his public policy work, has written about his exhilarating experience with Kater.

Bateman was staying in downtown Vancouver with his wife to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their engagement. After watching TheatreSports improv on Granville Island, they headed back to Robson Street for dinner. But with empty stomachs, they were in no mood to walk there.

However, with the Aquabus service having wrapped up for the evening and with only two taxis around and half a dozen parties trying to grab them, they had to settle on trying Kater.

Bateman wrote in The Orca (theorca.ca): “I’ve been a Kater skeptic, but it was very much an Uber-like experience. We watched our Kater work its way to us on the map, and our ride arrived within 6 minutes. We hopped into a brand new, sparkling clean vehicle, and went to Robson.

“The Kater even had a karaoke machine in the back, complete with mics and disco lighting, so we did the only thing one could do in such a situation: we sang and laughed.”

They were on Robson in 10 minutes and shelled out $3.35 for the base fare, $6.80 for the distance, and $3.10 for the time.

“We added a $5 tip and we left a five-star rating,” wrote Bateman.

Pretty cool, eh!