It's been a while since we checked in with Hamptons Free Ride, a plucky start-up that promises to give the good people of the Hamptons free rides to the beach in exchange for their eyeballs. (The service is 100% advertiser supported.)
Although they originally hoped to have their electric Chrysler GEM cars in East Hampton, Amagansett, and Montauk from the start, they've decided to focus exclusively on East Hampton for their upcoming Memorial Day Weekend launch (but they still hope to expand eastward later in the summer).
THE STOPS
They currently have three electric shuttles, which will run a loop in East Hampton seven days a week from 8am until 6pm with the following stops:
· The large parking lot just south of the YMCA at the end of Gingerbread Lane
· East Hampton Train Station
· Starbucks (on the parking lot side near the Blue Parrot)
· Westbound East Hampton Jitney Stop
· East Hampton Library (this stop was a specific request from the Town)
· East Hampton Main Beach
· Eastbound East Hampton Jitney Stop
· East Hampton Movie Theatre (this is still TBD as it might be too dangerous to cross two lanes of traffic to make the left on Newtown Lane from here)
· East Hampton Middle School
· East Hampton Train Station
· Back to the parking lot near the YMCA
OTHER DETAILS
· The maiden voyage will be at 8am on Saturday, May 28th.
· Each vehicle seats six people and has a bit of additional trunk space in the back. There will be roof-top surfboard racks, too.
· Each of the vehicles will need to be pulled from service several times a day for a 45-minute recharge (but there will always be two on the road at any given time).
· They're very close to signing a big advertising deal with a grocery delivery service (we're guessing Stop & Shop's Peapod), which would mean a full exterior wrapping of the vehicles with their logo. They've already signed two local businesses (East Hampton Indoor Tennis and Hamptons Bagels) to advertise inside the cabs (which will involve homemade video commercials and take-one brochure holders).
And although the fledgling company doesn't expect to break even in their first year or two of operation, they definitely don't plan on ever charging passengers for the service: "We're an advertising company, not a transportation company." Plus, "people like things that are free." Amen to that!
· Hamptons Free Ride [Official Site]
· All Previous Hamptons Free Ride Coverage [Curbed Hamptons]
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