PORTLAND, Maine — The app-based ridesharing service Uber will expand its Maine operations to the seaside towns of Bar Harbor, Old Orchard Beach, Ogunquit and Kennebunk in a summertime experiment.
The controversial taxi competitor announced Thursday it will start offering rides in those beach towns at 5 p.m. Friday, in advance of Memorial Day weekend.
Bar Harbor Town Manager Cornell Knight said he learned of the plan Thursday and that it seemed, at first glance, that the company would be required to get a license before beginning operations.
“Our ordinance says a taxi cab is a sedan station wagon or motor vehicle used for hire with a driver that has a seating capacity of fewer than five persons behind the driver,” Knight said. “So, I’d read that they need a license.”
That’s a fight Uber has had around the country, where they operate differently than commercial drivers. Questions about licensing prompted cities including Portland, Boston and other major cities to work on local regulations to carve out some understanding of the company’s obligations.
Uber has participated in such talks in Portland, where it first landed in Maine last October, but the company hasn’t reached out to the individual towns in its latest round of expansions.
In Maine, the company’s focused on passage of a bill, LD 1379, that would set minimum insurance requirements for those drivers.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the State Legislature to ensure smart regulations are passed that find a permanent home for ridesharing in Maine,” Kaitlin Durkosh, spokeswoman for Uber in the Northeast, said in an email.
With the latest expansion in Maine, Uber also announced expansions to a range of beach towns across the Eastern seaboard.
“Beginning operations this summer is a way for us to see how a new option like Uber works in these beach towns, where ways to move around town haven’t changed in many years,” Durkosh said.
Durkosh said the company will make regular evaluations of the service and doesn’t have a specific end date for providing rides in those towns.
Lawmakers in Kansas reached a compromise Tuesday on regulations that will allow Uber to continue operating there, and Uber and the similar service, Lyft, have posed a challenge for Massachusetts lawmakers, as well.
The company allows drivers to use their own cars as a taxi service, picking up people who request and pay for rides through the app. The company conducts background checks on drivers through the hiring process and provides liability insurance to the drivers.
The company said that in Bar Harbor, the cost of a ride is $1.75 base fare plus $0.25 per minute and $1.80 per mile. In Ogunquit, Old Orchard Beach and Kennebunk, the cost of a ride is $1.50 base fare plus $0.18 per minute and $1.85 per mile.
The company and the sharing-economy business model faces a major legal challenge. Attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan is leading lawsuits against Uber and Lyft, arguing they have improperly classified their drivers as independent contractors. The lawsuit seeks to require Uber to pay for things such as gas and maintenance.
A judge has not ruled on whether to grant class status for the plaintiffs in the case, which is limited to drivers in California.
The service has been banned in several areas and in European countries over concerns it is violating licensing laws and competing unfairly with existing regulated services.
Uber operates in more than 300 cities worldwide.