Late last month the local Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTOP) in Puerto Rico filed a regulation that eases government restrictions, thereby providing ride-hailing services, such as Uber, as an alternative to taxis and public transportation on the island.
According to Caribbean Business, “services will reportedly be available at least in the San Juan metro by summertime.”
This is welcome news for travelers because taxis in San Juan are often expensive and use “zone rates” within the tourist areas, which covers a broad region. Within this area, taxis will not run the meter, and even the zone pricing is subject to the taxi drivers discretion – often leading to higher prices than one would expect. In addition, buses on the island are slow and unreliable.
Bottom Line:
Any alternatives to a taxi on the island of Puerto Rico is a welcome addition. Uber already operates in over 400 cities around the world, and it appears that Uber is going to start in San Juan, and then may expand to other parts of the island of 3.5 million people.
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This is excellent news! In San Juan, the taxis suck and the buses are a complete waste of time. Now, if they could just get rid of Zika…
Awesome news! Uber takes all the work out of finding a fair price on a ride when traveling. I think the more cities that have, the better.
I’ve enjoyed driving part-time in SF for the past couple years, but new city regulations caused me to stop recently. I wrote about it today if anyone is interested: https://easyjourneys.wordpress.com/2016/05/17/why-a-new-san-francisco-rule-ended-my-stint-as-an-uberlyft-driver/
Just to CLARIFY! The 3.5 million people that reside in Puerto Rico are US CITIZENS. And the fares in SJ are expensive as any other part of the nation. Where 6 miles in Atlanta cost you not less than $15.00 and with UBER is $13.02 around the same time. The real achievement here will be providing services deep in the island where jobs and services are much needed.
Gene, why are you so afraid, first of all zika its not spread all over the island only a few people have gotten the zika and it was just like the chiquingunya, it only affected a few residents for a couple of months and its gone and so is the zika. So stop being afraid and take a chance and travel to this beautiful island that where ever you go you will be greeted with a goodmorning and words like mi amor,( my love) words that arent used in the us on regular basis. This is our way of greeting someone to make them feel welcomed.