Uber in Puerto Plata Province

[Taylor]

So sometimes I hang out at the taxi stand just to hear the latest around town.

One of the regular moto concho drivers recently upgraded to Taxi driver. Bought the license, borrowed money from the bank, bought a car. He's a good guy and reasonable to talk with so I asked him if it's worth it, as likely 5 years from now Uber will start to have more and more of an impact.

My reasoning was this - you're allowed to use UBER in Puerto Plata now, and officially, and you're allowed to use in the whole province. Yes the taxi drivers will block any tourist from using it, if a Dominican uses it then they can't really stop it.

What was interesting is that all the taxi drivers agreed. They still get to protect the tourists, but they can't stop Dominicans . I realized that as a naturalized Dominican, I can now officially take an UBER without getting harassed. I asked them can I take an UBER then, ... there was a pause, and they all said yes. !! There were 5 of them there, from two different sydicos. They all agreed.


Has anyone recently used it recently? I just looked at the app now and while it offered me a ride for $250 pesos for 8 km, the closest one was 15 min away. It looks as if it's possible to use an UBER in Sosua..

 

[JD Jones]

So sometimes I hang out at the taxi stand just to hear the latest around town.

One of the regular moto concho drivers recently upgraded to Taxi driver. Bought the license, borrowed money from the bank, bought a car. He's a good guy and reasonable to talk with so I asked him if it's worth it, as likely 5 years from now Uber will start to have more and more of an impact.

My reasoning was this - you're allowed to use UBER in Puerto Plata now, and officially, and you're allowed to use in the whole province. Yes the taxi drivers will block any tourist from using it, if a Dominican uses it then they can't really stop it.

What was interesting is that all the taxi drivers agreed. They still get to protect the tourists, but they can't stop Dominicans . I realized that as a naturalized Dominican, I can now officially take an UBER without getting harassed. I asked them can I take an UBER then, ... there was a pause, and they all said yes. !! There were 5 of them there, from two different sydicos. They all agreed.


Has anyone recently used it recently? I just looked at the app now and while it offered me a ride for $250 pesos for 8 km, the closest one was 15 min away. It looks as if it's possible to use an UBER in Sosua..

Been that way for some time now. A year at least.

 

[JLSawmam]

I've mentioned this before regarding Uber in the city of Puerto Plata - the quoted fares often are very low, and Uber then takes their 30% cut of that. A taxi ride from home to Jumbo is 200 pesos, and Uber quotes 95, leaving about 60 for the driver. A motoconcho would get 100! Any wonder why the drivers often message and ask for a higher fare? Maybe Uber gives a fairer quote in SDO or SGO, I don't know. Anyway, when I do use Uber, I pay the driver about the same as I would a taxi...I now have a few trusted drivers I call direct after using them in Uber once.

 

[Taylor]

Even if I paid double, I'm ahead. the quote from UBER is 1/4 what a taxi would charge here. The original concept of UBER was if I'm going this way anyway, may as well pick up some people to share the cost, so maybe some of the drivers do that?

I use them a lot in Santo Domingo, almost always the upgraded fare b/c the comfort is a lot better. I'm going to try using them in Sosua.

 

[josh2203]

I've mentioned this before regarding Uber in the city of Puerto Plata - the quoted fares often are very low, and Uber then takes their 30% cut of that. A taxi ride from home to Jumbo is 200 pesos, and Uber quotes 95, leaving about 60 for the driver. A motoconcho would get 100! Any wonder why the drivers often message and ask for a higher fare? Maybe Uber gives a fairer quote in SDO or SGO, I don't know. Anyway, when I do use Uber, I pay the driver about the same as I would a taxi...I now have a few trusted drivers I call direct after using them in Uber once.

I've never used Uber, happy with regular taxis, but I'm curious, how on earth is that rate calculated? I consider all regular taxi rates in the DR to be dirt cheap, so I would definitely never want to pay less than those, so I don't get this? 60 pesos for the driver for a ride? The app is then begging for an additional cash payment...

 

[JD Jones]

Every time I use an Uber who utilizes the published rate, I always tip them the added 20% which still comes out less than a taxi fare.

 

[tee]

I am surprised that nobody picked up on this comment 'I can now officially take an UBER without getting harassed'.....that sentence itself completely describes the taxi drivers here on the north coast. To me they are the lowest form of society with their belief that they can charge what they want, park wherever they want, drive like maniacs and have so little respect for others. Now don't get me wrong, not all taxi drivers are like that and there are many other people on the road that are just as bad (and more and more gringos driving on our roads are becoming that way too), but north coast taxi drivers bring shame on taxi drivers in other areas. I have lived here for 21 years and I know dozens of taxi drivers and only a handful are respectable, all the others are dogs that have been permitted by their union to manipulate the transport market here on the north coast. I use Uber wherever I travel and I find their service to be very efficient. I have used Uber literally hundreds of times and have yet to find anyone similar to the taxi dogs. And I am the same as JD Jones, I always tip 20%

 

[josh2203]

I am surprised that nobody picked up on this comment 'I can now officially take an UBER without getting harassed'.....that sentence itself completely describes the taxi drivers here on the north coast. To me they are the lowest form of society with their belief that they can charge what they want, park wherever they want, drive like maniacs and have so little respect for others. Now don't get me wrong, not all taxi drivers are like that and there are many other people on the road that are just as bad (and more and more gringos driving on our roads are becoming that way too), but north coast taxi drivers bring shame on taxi drivers in other areas. I have lived here for 21 years and I know dozens of taxi drivers and only a handful are respectable, all the others are dogs that have been permitted by their union to manipulate the transport market here on the north coast. I use Uber wherever I travel and I find their service to be very efficient. I have used Uber literally hundreds of times and have yet to find anyone similar to the taxi dogs. And I am the same as JD Jones, I always tip 20%

1. Where in the North Coast? Reason for asking is that there are many taxi companies operating. 2. How are they "charging what they want"? I have also used taxis for years and not once have I had this problem. Nor in Santiago nor in the capital. What do they do to make you pay what they want?

 

[westcan]

What was interesting is that all the taxi drivers agreed. They still get to protect the tourists, but they can't stop Dominicans . I realized that as a naturalized Dominican, I can now officially take an UBER without getting harassed. I asked them can I take an UBER then, ... there was a pause, and they all said yes. !! There were 5 of them there, from two different sydicos. They all agreed.

that is an interesting point of view. that the tourist taxis protect the tourists. In a way I do agree that they do. When I use a tourist taxi on the north coast, it is when I want to go to the airport or travel long distances with visiting friends, because if we are involved in any accident the tourist taxi driver has all his sindicato to back him up. It also allows our group to have our own designated driver and I can drink beer along with my friends and no one has to worry about the insane traffic.

 

[tee]

1. Where in the North Coast? Reason for asking is that there are many taxi companies operating. 2. How are they "charging what they want"? I have also used taxis for years and not once have I had this problem. Nor in Santiago nor in the capital. What do they do to make you pay what they want?

Primarily in Sosua and Cabarete. The taxi drivers in Puerto Plata were the same but once the cruise ships started coming in they were more regulated and the union understood that they could not risk taxi drivers in Puerto Plata over charging as this would have a huge impact on their business. Cabarete and Sosua taxi drivers are not affected by the cruise ships, their business is the weekend warriors and providing them with 'friends' to keep them company. The taxi drivers transport the 'friends'. I work in a location where I see dozens of taxis a day and I always hear about complaints from these visitors about getting shafted by the taxi drivers...although some could argue that they deserve it. The taxi drivers are opportunists and to be quite honest, I don't blame them for trying to charge more, but it just damages the reputation that taxi drivers have. And I don't care where you go in this country, they are some of the most aggressive drivers on the roads!

 

[CristoRey]

I do not use Uber for the same reason I don't use Airbnb. They under cut the competition and cause hard working honest people who are regulated and licensed to lose money and in some cases their livelihoods.