Uber car service now available in Toronto

Uber has arrived in Toronto. In a somewhat surprising move, the San Francisco-based car service has picked Toronto as its second international location. This follows earlier expansion to Paris late last year and operations in seven US cities. While there's no official word from the company, last month Toronto popped up as a secret destination on the Uber web site and tweets have been flying fast and furiously over at the Uber Toronto Twitter feed. On Sunday, they made somewhat of a splash driving VIPs and volunteers to and from the Toronto Underground Market.

For those unfamiliar, Uber operates similarly to Toronto-born service Winston (which incidentally modeled itself after Uber) which has a few months head start on its now well-funded US competitor. Anyone with a credit card can create an Uber account via the company's web site, iPhone or Android apps and call for car service to and from the airport or anywhere around the city.

Like Winston, rates are typically more expensive than a cab but less than the cost of limo service. There's a $15 minimum and rates currently posted to the Uber web site indicate a flat fee of $65 from anywhere in Toronto to Pearson and $78 the other way. Tax and tip are included as once you create an Uber account all rides (transactions) are processed digitally. More details (and rates) can be found here.