The ridesharing taxi service Uber will begin service to the coastal towns of aKennebunk, Kennebunkport, Old Orchard Beach and Ogunquit beginning this Friday at 5 p.m. Uber will be offering UberX service, the non-luxury car branch of their business.
Uber is known for its “surge pricing” model which increases rates based on demand for rides, and has in the past cut prices in off-season markets.
Uber spokeswoman Kaitlin Durkosh said they were starting in early summer and would be looking closely at how riders used the service over the year.
“Beginning operations this summer is a way of seeing how a new option like Uber works,” Durkosh said.
Durkosh said that Uber monitors users open their app even when there is no service in the area, and this demand in costal towns like Ogunquit led Uber to determine that these communities were good markets for the ridesharing app. Other locations announced alongside York County were vacation destinations Bar Harbor and Martha’s Vineyard, as well as the Hamptons and the Jersey Shore.
Uber began operating in Portland in October of last year, and entered into negotiations for a temporary operating agreement with the city in April while Portland develops a permanent ordinance.
There was no official number on the drivers that would be employed through the new service, but Durkosh said Uber would be looking to add drivers in the near future. Uber drivers are paid on a per-trip basis. As of press time, a fare in Portland was $1.50 plus 18 cents per minute and $1.85 per mile.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
