Alaska became the last state in the nation to allow transportation apps last month, and Uber was quick to roll into Haines.

Gov. Bill Walker signed House Bill 132 in June that permits ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft in the state.

Smartphone users can download an app that allows them to order a personally-owned car. App users can see in real-time where their driver is and must pay and tip online.

Uber and Lyft drivers are independent contractors who use their own vehicles, which must pass an inspection and be no more than 12 years old. Drivers must also be at least 21 years old and pass a federal background check. Uber operated in Alaska in 2014, but service ended after a disagreement over labor laws.

Haines Borough manager Debra Schnabel said at the June 27 assembly meeting that municipalities have the right to allow or deny ride-hailing services. Municipalities, however, cannot regulate service.

Lyft is currently operating in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks, but Uber is available wherever there are interested drivers.

Uber driver Suzanne Ashe gave a ride to her first customer last week.

“There’s been a need. This will fill the need and no one has to start from scratch and create their own taxi cab company,” Ashe said.

This is the first time Ashe, who works for River Adventures, has driven for a ride-sharing app. She said she was encouraged by friends in the Lower 48 who use and drive for Uber.

“I have time and have the perfect car for it,” Ashe said. She drives a red four-door PT Cruiser. She estimates a trip to the ferry terminal or the airport will cost about $10, and a ride to Chilkoot Lake will cost about $23. Ashe said for a $7 ride recently, she made $4.

Ashe said she is going to start driving on busy event days and see how it goes. Drivers set their own hours.

She said she’d be willing to drive in the winter with new winter tires and has talked to bartenders at local bars about her availability for giving rides at night.

Ashe said she has talked to Alex Stock, another Haines resident who has showed interest in driving for Uber, about scheduling.

“I’m hoping to get people home safely, but this isn’t something any one person can do 24/7,” Ashe said.

She said she has already come up against a few challenges.

Locations that people request to be driven to have to be on Uber’s map on the app. When she tried to drive someone to Haines Animal Rescue Kennel, it wasn’t on the approved map. She said it’s also hard to use the app on busy cruise ship days when the internet is slow.

“This is rural Alaska, man,” Ashe said. “Getting some crazy, big-city, fancy idea of giving rides to people…things have changed. But I think it’ll be a good thing for Haines.”

Ashe said she also is applying for a business license through the state.

But assembly member Tom Morphet said he has reservations about the new services, including that Uber drivers would soak up revenues in the summertime, then go south or shut down in the winter, absorbing enough profits to prevent a taxi service from operating profitably year-round.

“I would hate to see Uber displace a taxi company here or preclude one from starting up,” Morphet said. “It seems to me that helping establish a taxi company would perhaps provide a more permanent service. Is someone from Uber going to meet the ferries? Will Uber be available at 2 a.m. when someone needs a ride home from the bars? It seems to me that Uber works in those other communities because it supplements taxi service,” he said

Morphet said he has been working with borough staff to lower insurance requirements for a local taxi company, a concern voiced by former taxi company owners.

Haines resident Jonathon Richardson started operating his company Haines Shuttle about two months ago.

He offers rides in a 12-seater van between the ferry terminal and town and to the airport, fast ferry dock, trails, golf course and other locations on request.

A roundtrip ride to and from the ferry terminal costs $10 per adult. Small children are free and teenagers are half price, Richardson said. Call 766-3768 for more information.