Lavish parties in East Hampton, N.Y. may see an increase in designated drivers this summer.
Uber announced Friday morning it was pulling its service from the Long Island town.
Caused by a town mandate that requires all taxi drivers to have a physical address in East Hampton, Uber is quitting the area immediately, according to 27 East. Town supervisor Larry Cantwell told the site that more than 100 people have called his office since that ban was announced at 11:30 a.m. He added that more than 600 people have reached out to him via email.
"Some are from East Hampton, some are from afar: Seattle, Boston and elsewhere," Cantwell said. "Most of them are supportive of Uber, but not all of them. We understand this is part of their strategy, and that's fine."
Uber sent out an email to its riders on Friday afternoon, calling for them to be vocal about the issue and contact the town's officials.
"Today, the East Hampton Town supervisor is banning Uber," the email states. "New rules would require every single Uber driver-partner to have an office in East Hampton to continue to hold their license, which is impossible for our partners. As a result, riders like you will be unable to get reliable, safe rides in any part of East Hampton out to Montauk-effective immediately. We need your help to bring Uber back. Make your voice heard and contact Town Supervisor Cantwell today-tell him you need Uber in East Hampton."
Cantwell insists that the law was not made to single out Uber.
"We met with them (Uber) today and they agreed to shut down their application in the town of East Hampton in recognition of the town's licensing provisions," Cantwell said. "In no way were these laws created with Uber in mind. We had cabs coming from all over into the town to pick up a quick buck on the weekends and it created a problem in the community, especially in Montauk. At one time, there were over 700 cabs that were licensed to do business in East Hampton. The law is intended to bring order to that situation."
People are still allowed to hail Uber rides from anywhere and get dropped off in East Hampton, but getting home is going to be the issue. The ban couldn't take place at a worse time, as East Hampton is a hot spot in the summer.
Uber previously had operated in East Hampton since 2012. Many people are concerned that the lack of Uber rides will lead to an increase of DUIs and DWIs in the area.
Re East Hampton #uber decision, shouldn't @Uber's data be able to demonstrate a correlation of uber traffic volume and reduced DWI?
— Tim Walters (@tim_walters) June 5, 2015
It’s much safer for the roads for people to have Uber access, looks like a really dumb decision https://t.co/npg9cfpTSu — Robert Bareuther (@robertbareuther) June 5, 2015
East Hampton town officials choose DUI over @Uber: https://t.co/b52CoqLDO0
— Mike Dudas (@mdudas) June 5, 2015
Town of East Hampton banning uber...DUI is a huge issue there - as a father with two young children driving those roads, this is madness
— Jon Steinberg (@jonsteinberg) June 5, 2015
