CitrusTV Gets a Ride with SU’s Favorite Uber Driver

By John Perik 

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – For the past three years, Uber driver Troy Boyer has gone by the alias of the “Cuse Candyman.” Each night, Boyer drives around the streets of Syracuse in his Toyota RAV4, which is better known to SU students as the “Candy Machine.” The name comes from the endless amounts of candy on display in the back of his car. 

According to Boyer, the Candyman name was first created by SU students. 

“The Candyman name came from the students,” Boyer said. “The students started calling me the Candyman because no Uber car had candy in it. Then everybody started calling me the Candyman.” 

For Troy, embracing the title of “Cuse Candyman” took a little convincing. 

“I had a marketing student tell me you should put candyman on the side of your car,” Boyer said. “I said, I can’t drive around campus with a car called the candyman.” Boyer said that the marketing student told him, “you really shouldn’t do it but you really should do it. Because if you do it you’re gonna be lit. Everybody knows you’re the candyman, just do it. So I did it,” said Boyer. 

Over the course of the past three years, students have shown their appreciation for the Cuse Candyman. 

“I have students cheering me on the streets,” Boyer said. “I stop at a red light and I have students slamming up against the car and taking pictures with me.” Boyer also mentioned, “This is the students’ car. The skull theme was created by the students. The name was created by the students. The candy was created by the students.” 

According to Boyer, “There is no Uber in the world doing what I’m doing there is no way nobody’s doing this.”

Boyer’s hard work has not gone unnoticed by SU students. 

After one Uber ride, Boyer received what at first glance looked like a very generous 50 dollar tip. “After a while, I looked at it and my jaw dropped,” Boyer said. “It was five hundred dollars. I literally broke down in tears.” 

Boyer told CitrusTV that he invests all of the money he makes from Uber tips into future repairs for the Candy Machine and more candy for the riders. 

Troy Boyer does not Uber for the money, he Ubers for the students. Boyer says, “Each night, it’s the love and respect that keeps bringing me back.”