An unmistakable new contender has entered Denton’s taxi cab landscape, and this one comes from right down the block.
Wandervan launched service last weekend in the city with a surf-green 1967 Ford Econoline van that’s been refurbished with seating for about nine, black lighting, modern air conditioning and a new sound system for passengers to plug into.
The new company is the creation of Jason Upshaw who moved to Denton for college about 17 years ago and found, as many have observed, that cab offerings were limited in the city.
Even with the popular Uber launching service in the city earlier this year, there are still a relatively small amount of drivers who make Denton a regular stopping area for fares.
So Upshaw said his wife and he began researching about a year ago and talking to both city leaders and business experts about how to launch a new company in town properly.
They chose the throw-back vans as a way to get noticed among city traffic.
"I just felt Denton needed something a little bit different because Denton itself is a little bit different,” said Upshaw. "I haven't seen anybody else on the planet that's doing something like this, so hopefully that forms something kind of unique."
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The service, like Uber, runs off of an app through smartphones where people can hail a ride and pay through a credit card.
Right now Upshaw has only one van in service with another being prepped at Repo’s Garage in Denton to go into service soon. He and his wife drive along with one other employee, but he said they look forward to expanding in the future to meet demand.
At this point he said they’d like to add an airport shuttle service and possibly continue to grow in Denton.
