Lyft, Uber could come to town by early July
The popular ride-sharing services are setting their sights well north of New York City.
KINGSTON, N.Y. >> Ride-sharing services could be coming to Kingston, perhaps as early as the Fourth of July weekend.
Spokesmen for both Lyft and Uber, two of the bestknown services, have said they are considering adding Kingston to the lineups.
Wednesday evening, Lyft officials participated in a celebratory gathering at the Redwood Restaurant on North Front Street in Kingston to cheer the passage of a measure in the state Legislature allowing for ride-sharing services in upstate New York. They also met with Ulster County Executive Michael Hein.
“Ride-sharing is an essential part of a growing modern economy,” Hein said in a prepared statement. “I was thrilled to meet with representatives from Lyft, and we firmly believe that this will not only benefit and help grow our expanding tourism economy, but also become pivotal in ensuring safe and reliable transportation across Ulster County — which is as geographically large as Rhode Island — as well as the greater Hudson Valley.”
In the same statement, Lyft Public Policy Manager Funsho Owolabi said the company’s presence in Kingston would, among other things, stimulate jobs.
“At Lyft, we’re proud that ride-sharing is a service that can positively impact communities, both creating jobs and improving access to safe rides, and we are excited to be part of its expansion to upstate New York,” Owolabi said.
Kingston Mayor Steve Noble is strongly in favor of having ride-sharing services in the city, and he attended the event at the Redwood.
“People just want to be able to get around,” Noble said at the event. “There’s only so much I can do. I’m sorry, but my bus system is horrible. It needs to be improved, and I don’t have enough taxi drivers to be able to have a cab service that works for everybody.”
Noble said ride-sharing services would result in convenience, efficiency and more employment in Kingston.
“There’s obviously things that are frustrating with the taxi industry in general. I love the disruption of that industry to make it more accessible,” said Abe Uchitelle, president of Dragon Search, an Uptown Internet marketing company. He called ride-sharing services sorely needed in the community.
Josh Gold, Uber’s New York policy director, told the Times Union newspaper of Albany that “our mission is to provide affordable, reliable transportation to everyone everywhere — as reliable as running water. And that means being in Kingston, it also means being in the [state’s] North Country, it also means being in Westchester and New York City and Buffalo and Albany. It means being in the entire state and entire country.”
“Are we going to be able to launch in Kingston on July 9? I don’t know,” Gold said, responding to state Assemblyman Kevin Cahill’s skepticism. “Do we want to get that done before the end of the summer in Kingston? Yes, we do.”
Cahill, D-Kingston, who was instrumental in crafting the Assembly version of the ride-sharing law, said he thought it was a longshot that the services would come to Kingston.
“My skepticism is from carefully examining the markets they’ve entered elsewhere,” Cahill said in an email this week. “The Kingston area is not consistent with that profile. Still, as I said, now it’s up to them.”
Adrian Durbin, Lyft’s communications director, said the company is actively seeking Kingston drivers.
“We are planning to launch all across the entire state soon, and we are eager to launch as soon as possible,” Durbin said.
Durbin said the company is aware of the demand for ride-sharing in Kingston and is ready to answer the call.
“The residents of Kingston have made it clear that [they want] this operating in their community,” Durbin said. “We are actively recruiting drivers in Kingston and around the state.”
Durbin said people interested in becoming Lyft drivers should go to lyft. com.