A Haines Uber driver is starting her own cab company after experiencing the difficulties of the mobile transportation app in a rural community.

Suzanne Ashe is in the process of starting a new taxi service called Red Cab, named after her red 2010 Chevy HHR.

Gov. Bill Walker signed a bill in June that permits ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft. Smartphone users can download the app that allows them to order a 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. Uber operated in Alaska in 2014, but service ended after a disagreement over labor laws.

Ashe told the Haines Borough Assembly, which advanced an ordinance last week that provides language for taxi and network transportation companies, that the Uber algorithm used to assign riders to vehicles doesn’t work well in a small town.

“You can’t camp out and be online all the time,” Ashe told the assembly. “They will knock you off. It’s set up for multiple drivers and multiple riders. In order to cater to rural areas, especially areas where there isn’t a saturation of network, then a cab company makes a lot more sense.”

Some areas, such as Small Tracts, aren’t on maps Uber uses, Ashe said. Passenger requested destinations have to be on Uber’s map. Uber contracts with Google for its mapping. When Ashe 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.

Her Uber experiment allowed her to meet and talk with new people, an aspect of the job she really enjoys, Ashe said.

Before she starts her taxi company, she still needs to register her car as a commercial vehicle, obtain insurance and create business cards. She said she’ll be up and running within the month.

Borough assembly member Tom Morphet said during last week’s meeting that the assembly needs to do whatever it can to promote a transportation company.

“We’re a tourist town and we need to have some kind of taxi, Uber, you name it,” Morphet said. “We need a way to get people around.”

Ashe plans to charge a flat rate charge of $10 per ride or $30 per hour.

Haines resident Jonathan Richardson started operating his company Haines Shuttle in the spring.

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.