---
title: "Amish Man Starts Horse-and-Buggy ‘Uber’ Service in Rural Michigan"
description: "The Amish are known for being famously hardworking and famously adverse to most modern forms of technology. That includes smartphones and the entire app ecosystem therein, meaning no Snapchat, no Fortnite, and no ride-sharing for these Anabaptist folk—except in one community in southern Michigan, where a man has started a one-horse operation he's calling the \"Amish Uber,\" WWMT News reports."
date: "2018-08-07"
modified: "2018-08-07"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/22711/amish-man-starts-horse-and-buggy-uber-service-in-rural-michigan"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "Culture"
  - "News"
  - "People"
tags:
  - "Business"
  - "Michigan"
  - "religion"
  - "ride sharing"
  - "Uber"
---

# Amish Man Starts Horse-and-Buggy ‘Uber’ Service in Rural Michigan

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/08/amish-uber.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

The Amish are known for being famously hardworking and famously adverse to most modern forms of technology. That includes smartphones and the entire app ecosystem therein, meaning no Snapchat, no Fortnite, and [no ride-sharing](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/22415/uber-drivers-have-completed-more-than-10-billion-ride-hailing-trips>) for these Anabaptist folk—except in one community in southern Michigan, where a man has started a one-horse operation he's calling the "Amish Uber," [*WWMT News* reports.](<https://wwmt.com/news/local/amish-man-starts-uber-ride-service-with-his-horse-and-buggy>)

Uber doesn't operate in the rural area surrounding the tiny village of Colon, Michigan, but word of its potential managed to reach the ears of a local Amish man named Timothy Hochstedler. He slapped a sign on his buggy and started offering the equivalent of UberX and Uber Pool rides for a flat $5 fee, giving a simple reason for wanting a piece of the action during his surprising on-camera interview: ride-sharing is the way of the times.

https://youtube.com/embed/O2cYQniQG4M

We should note here that he doesn't actually work for Uber, nor is there an app you can use to summon or track his small buggy and Morgan horse around town. Hochstedler doesn't own a cell phone; instead, [*WWMT* notes](<https://wwmt.com/news/local/amish-man-starts-uber-ride-service-with-his-horse-and-buggy>) that you have to flag him down on the street like a [normal cab.](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/22659/the-electric-jaguar-i-pace-is-germanys-newest-taxi>) So what separates this endeavor from a regular old taxi? Branding.

"Uber is a cool thing. Every single year something new comes in and Uber is hot right now, so we have the Amish Uber," Hochstedler told a reporter. "We can deliver people to their front door steps."

The Amish may not use our technology, but they sure understand what makes us tick. Uber has become [one of those metonymic brands,](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/22362/uber-is-still-the-leader-in-global-ride-hailing-report-says>) synonymous with the concept of ride-sharing in the same way that Google is a stand-in for "internet search" and every tissue is a Kleenex. An Amish taxi service is just another business. An Amish Uber combines two disparate worlds in a way that catches our attention. Plus, a $5 horse and buggy ride is far cheaper than the tourist experiences found in places like New York's Central Park.

So good luck to Timothy Hochstedler. And Uber, you might want to consider an official partnership with this guy before he corners the Amish market. You'll just have to send someone to Michigan to find him first.

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)