Uber ride service testing Portland market
Portland taxi industry, take notice. Uber, a venture-backed startup that provides smartphone app-based ride services in 140 cities, is testing the Portland market for a possible expansion.
The Portland Press Herald reported that advertisements seeking Uber drivers in the Portland area have begun appearing in the newsfeeds of local Facebook users. Kaitlin Durkosh, a spokeswoman for Uber, told the newspaper that the ads are meant to gauge market feasibility and said, so far, the response has been “overwhelmingly positive.”
The San Francisco-based startup, which launched in 2009, works by allowing riders to request drivers through a smartphone app that accepts payments and tracks drivers on a dynamic map. The service has different pricing options and a “surge pricing system,” which drives up prices during inclement weather, holidays and when demand is high.
Uber, which operates in New York, Boston and London, made history last month when it brought in a new round of funding that put its pre-money valuation at $17 billion — a new record for technology startups in a direct investment round, Bloomberg reported.
Uber has received some pushback from the taxi industry in cities like London and Washington, D.C., because the startup doesn’t have to abide by the same regulations as taxi companies in those cities and others. Most recently, Uber’s presence in Cambridge, Mass., has prompted officials to draft new regulations for the ride company.
Jessica Grondin, a spokeswoman for the city of Portland, told the Press Herald that the city code may require Uber to abide by certain regulations, but a determination wouldn’t be made until the company’s activities are given more legal consideration.
Read more
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments