[dropcap size=big]O[/dropcap]f all the lessons that Will Coleman learned from years of using various rideshare apps as a passenger, there are two that stand out the most: the importance of guaranteeing safety for both passengers and drivers and maintaining high levels of service. As many can attest to, it sounds obvious, but the reality can be quite the opposite of what’s provided.
“It's really like electronic hitchhiking,” says Coleman, who is CEO and co-founder of Alto, a new rideshare company that has serviced Los Angeles county since December 2020. The company separates itself from other rideshare companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Yellowcab in various ways, such as owning its own fleet of vehicles, tracking vehicles during active trips using real-time GPS/geolocation, and hiring drivers as employees.
Coleman and co-founder Alex Halbardier (who was unavailable for this L.A. TACO interview) launched Alto in 2018. The company started servicing customers in Dallas, TX, in January 2019 and Houston after. Coleman previously spent 11 years working at the Dallas office of McKinsey & Company in the travel and transportation space. He worked with airlines, casinos, car rental companies, hotels, and other companies in the travel and transportation industries to understand shifts and changes in the business industry.
A critical aspect of Alto’s brand is that it hires drivers as employees as opposed to its competitors, who work with drivers as independent contractors.
“It was from all of that work that a lot of the ideas behind Alto started to form in my head as I understood what the upsides of rideshare brought to our communities,” explains Coleman, “As a consultant…I spent literally months of my life in the back of cars talking to drivers, experiencing the services. I noticed for myself and others that as the services grew and they became more widely available, they also became less consistent.”