Ride-sharing company and food delivery service Uber has confirmed it will begin operating in Dunedin next week.
Uber spokeswoman Nicky Preston said the company's food delivery service, Uber Eats, would begin operating in Dunedin next Friday and the ride-sharing service would "go live" in Dunedin on May 31, and then in Queenstown on June 7.
A launch date for Uber Eats in Queenstown is still to be announced.
Ms Preston was delighted with the response the company had received from drivers - particularly in Dunedin.
More than 30 people had registered to be drivers, and the number was expected to increase once the service began, she said.
Customers use the Uber app on their smartphone to find, hail and pay for rides.
The Uber Eats app works in a similar way.
Ms Preston said Uber did not employ drivers. Rather it took a 25% cut of each fare for the use of its app.
Examples of fare pricing included a trip from Queens Garden to Dunedin Airport ($82.95), South Dunedin to the Octagon ($10.35) and the University of Otago to St Kilda ($18.55).
Ms Preston said the minimum fare would be $7.50, but prices might be higher at busy times.
By expanding into Dunedin and Queenstown, Uber aims to alleviate pressure on existing taxi services during weekends and major events such as rugby games.
Dunedin and Queenstown will be the sixth and seventh cities in New Zealand where the ride service is available.
The expansion comes almost four years after the San Francisco-based company first made its service available in Auckland.
Concerns about the safety of passengers have been raised in the past.
But Ms Preston said since the Government made changes to the NZ Land Transport Bill, all drivers needed to hold a P endorsement on their full licence and be over the age of 21.
Each driver needed to pass a background check, be insured, be able to be tracked by GPS, and hold accreditation.
Since launching in New Zealand in 2014, the app had been downloaded about 400,000 times and about 4000 drivers were registered, she said.
What is Uber?
• A ride-sharing app that can be downloaded to a smartphone.
•Customers enter their destination and using GPS, the app finds free drivers close by.
•An estimate of the fare is shown on the phone before the ride is accepted.
•All the driver’s information is available, including vehicle registration.
•Payment is made online by credit card so no cash is needed.
•Once the ride is over, both the passenger and the driver can rate each other.
