PROVINCETOWN — Christopher McGregor’s taxi business is braced for a tough season. He said he’s heard a new rideshare company is coming soon to the Outer Cape.
The rumor is only partly right: a new app-based “microtransit” service similar to Uber and Lyft is set to launch in all 15 Cape Cod towns starting June 22. Called SmartDART, it will charge only $3 per ride, dramatically undercutting the $12-per-person-per-ride flat rate taxi companies in Provincetown are allowed to charge.
SmartDART is not being offered by a company but by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority (CCRTA).
The SmartDART program started in September 2020 and currently operates in Barnstable, Sandwich, Yarmouth, Dennis, and Falmouth. CCRTA administrator Tom Cahir said the authority has been planning the expansion for years. He would not say how many SmartDART vans would be dispatched to each Outer Cape town, only that the number would be determined by each town’s needs.
SmartDART offers only short rides — of no more than 10 miles — and it will operate only between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m.
McGregor said that Provincetown’s taxi and rideshare market is already saturated. “Ubers are killing us already,” he said. More needs to be done to protect the taxi companies that pay the town’s licensing fees, which Uber and Lyft drivers don’t have to pay, he said, adding that he has seen an increase in Uber and Lyft cars with out-of-state plates in town this summer.
There are eight licensed taxi companies in Provincetown, according to the licensing dept.
Raphael Richter, the CEO of Mercedes Cab Co., which does business in Provincetown as Cape Cab, told the Independent that he thinks the CCRTA’s program could be a good thing for riders, though it complicates an already crowded field.
Richter said the transportation systems of the Outer Cape have changed in the years since then-Gov. Charlie Baker signed the law that recognized Uber and Lyft as legitimate transportation businesses in 2016. According to the Mass. Dept. of Public Utilities, 19,434 rides were started by ride-hailing app users in Provincetown in 2022. That’s up from 14,500 rides started in Provincetown in 2021 but not yet at pre-pandemic levels: in 2019 over 55,000 trips started here.
“Uber comes in and takes most of the business during the busy times and then disappears,” said Richter. “You can’t ever find an Uber during the winter.” That has forced taxi owners to scale back. “When we had enough volume, we could employ the drivers and make a commitment to work the busy and the slow times,” he said.
McGregor’s business operates from May to November. Richter said that his company has pivoted away from taxi work. Richter also owns the tour company Cape Destinations, the truck repair company All Cape Truck Service, Pilgrim Transit, Mayflower Trolley & Excursions, and the Funk Bus.
Between Towns, Advantage Uber
Gail Gibbs, owner of Pride Taxi, said that when she started driving taxis in Provincetown over 20 years ago, the flat rate was $2 for rides in town. In 2022, Richter successfully lobbied the licensing board to increase the upper limit of what taxis can charge for in-town rides from $7 to $12. He cited the increase of ride-hailing companies like Uber and Lyft and called on the board to fully deregulate taxi pricing, which the licensing board declined to do.
Though Provincetown taxi drivers can now charge up to $12 per person per ride in town, they can — and often do — charge less. Gibbs said she charges $10 per ride. What pays the bills are group fares. “We all use vans because you fill them up and make money,” she said.
Popular routes, such as rides to or from National Seashore beaches, the airport, and MacMillan Pier, also have maximum rates that drivers can charge. Town bylaws specify that all taxis must have their rates clearly posted.
Traveling between towns is where the disparity between Uber, Lyft, and taxi companies’ pricing widens. Unlike Provincetown, Truro and Eastham do not set rates for taxis. Wellfleet has a set rate of $6 for the first mile and a metered rate for every subsequent mile; Wellfleet also set a maximum flat rate of $45 for trips from Wellfleet to Provincetown or Orleans.
Provincetown taxis have their own flat rates for rides to other towns. Throughout the day, prices of an Uber or Lyft to Truro and Wellfleet are usually lower than the flat rates set by town taxi companies.
A reporter’s trip with Pride Taxi from the East End of Provincetown to the Bombshelter Pub in Wellfleet cost $125, not including the tip, on June 5. According to Gibbs, that ride’s cost was calculated by adding the flat fee of a trip to Wellfleet, $75, with a $10 extra charge for every additional person in the car. The one-way trip was for six people.
On June 6, however, Gibbs said Pride Taxi would no longer charge for additional people for trips to Wellfleet, meaning the trips will always cost $75. Other taxi companies queried about the same ride quoted prices from $30 (Cape Cab) to $90 (Safe Cab).
With Uber, the trip back from the Bombshelter to Gifford House in Provincetown cost only $34.93.
The SmartDART vans will work only within town limits, according to Cahir, so customers looking to go up Cape by car will still have to decide between a cab and ride-hailing apps.
