Uber VTCs are launching this summer time in La Rochelle, on the islands of Oléron and Ré

They could already be almost twenty drivers crisscrossing the agglomeration of La Rochelle in addition to the islands of Ré and Oléron. Mainly set up until now within the big cities and in the South-East, Uber has just introduced the deployment of its offerings in Charente-Maritime. The American giant of the transport car with driver (VTC) now intends to cowl the most traveller areas of the department, although it means spilling over into Royan and as a long way as Sables-d’Olonne, in Vendée.

Other factors at the Atlantic coast, together with La Baule (Loire-Atlantique), the Arcachon basin (Gironde) and the Basque coast (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) are also centered via Uber. A first. The transnational agency has been eyeing La Rochelle for numerous months and has been recruiting drivers there in order to amplify its provide. His goal ? Test the relevance of its model on website online within the framework of a “summer marketing campaign”, limited in time.

“We have found actual peaks linked to mobility requests. But we have no quantified goal. What matters to us is to provide the most dependable carrier feasible, ”underlines Camille Vu, development supervisor at Uber France. Last yr, in La Rochelle, almost 100,000 people sought an Uber driver from the application. “We are in a position to mention that sixty five% were French travelers, 30% of overseas vacationers representing 55 nationalities and 5% of locals”, information Camille Vu.

 

These requests, mainly focused inside the summer, could have prompted the deployment of the group in Charente-Maritime. To encourage vocations and “encourage drivers”, Uber currently gives them “economic bonuses”. Their amounts are not known however could evolve in ranges, relying at the number of trips or the distances travelled.

Forbidden to “maraud” near stations

Licensed taxi motive force based totally on the Ile de Ré, Christophe says he is “confident” with the arrival of VTCs. “The agglomeration has approximately sixty expert taxis. If we do our activity properly, he believes, there's no cause to be concerned. We have a devoted clientele and work with partners. VTCs additionally do not have get right of entry to to school or scientific delivery. »

 

He, who has been surveying the place for 25 years, will on the other hand pay precise attention to compliance with the policies. In his sights: VTCs that maraud or park while awaiting a consumer. “It’s forbidden but many do it, close to the station or at the airport,” says Christophe. According to Camille Vu from Uber, those destinations are certainly a few of the most in demand at the software, within the identical way because the old port of La Rochelle or the campsites on the Ile de Ré.