Do you Uber? Would you Uber here if you could?

Ann Arbor, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, and Lansing all now offer the rideshare and taxi service, which just five years after launching in San Francisco is now worth more than Delta Airlines and Kraft Foods (at $40 billion).

Here’s how it works: Customers use Uber’s smartphone app to request rides from nearby private individuals who've contracted to become drivers. The technology and simplicity have attracted millions of users and offered fares extremely competitive with or lower than those offered by traditional taxi services. Some 9,300 Uber drivers operate in NYC alone.

With six locations already in Michigan, The Ticker wondered when Uber might make an appearance in the Traverse City market?

"What I can tell you is that Uber is exploring expansion in a number of cities across the country and the reception we've received from cities around Michigan has been overwhelming,” Uber Spokesperson Lauren Altmin tells The Ticker. “We look forward to exploring further opportunities across the state.”

In order to be an Uber partner in Michigan, drivers must pass a stringent background check, a driving history check and ongoing quality controls. All rides are backed by the driver’s insurance policy and Uber’s corporate insurance policy.

What does one longtime TC cab operator think of the possibility of Uber coming to town?

“[The company] certainly gets a lot of free press,” says Doug Dornbos, owner of Cherry Capital Cab. “The media wants to talk about them … stunning for a company that has spent a tremendous amount of time in court.”

Just this week the City of Portland (Oregon) was the latest to sue the company, demanding that Uber follow the laws for how for-hire vehicles must be licensed and requesting their operations be shut down until they do so.

And in Spain a judge has ordered Uber to immediately stop operating in the country, after a series of protests by taxi associations.

Dornbos insists this is not just another case of sour grapes among old school companies fighting a tech-savvy startup.

“We've looked at a lot of that technology,” says Dornbos. “They're not the only people who have it. They've just been aggressive about putting it into use.”

Dornbos sees the area's relatively small and spread out population as the challenge Uber would face here.

“I don't know how it would work here. The more rural you get, the poorer it works … because the algorithm works best if there's a lot of people within striking distance of picking somebody up," he says.

He adds that having an actual person handling dispatch can be more effective than technology because they can prioritize who’s going where.

“We don’t have to have human dispatch, but it doesn’t work quite right without it.”

Dornbos says several pieces of legislation are pending in the Michigan House that could change the rules for these alternative for-hire transportation companies – in addition to Uber there is Lyft, Sidecar, Zipcar and others – and require licensing and adherence to local government regulations.

So will Uber soon arrive?

“I would imagine that they'll come … and if they do we will have to change the way we think about the business a little bit,” Dornbos says.