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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World

US midterm elections 2018: Uber, Lyft and bike-sharing companies offer free and discounted rides to voters

Voters cast their ballots in America ahead of the midterm elections (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Ride-share companies including Uber will offer free or discounted rides to polling stations across the United States in a bid to boost voter turnout in the midterm elections.

The move aims to remove what many consider a barrier to voting – lack of transportation.

On Tuesday, US voters will cast their vote on who will control the US House and Senate.

Uber and Lyft have partnered with When We All Vote, a non-profit chaired by Michelle Obama that helps people to register and vote, for the scheme.

Lyft is also working with Voto Latino, whose co-founder Rosario Dawson has urged voters to choose Democrats to combat Donald Trump's immigration policies.

US midterm elections: What you need to know

Meanwhile two bike-sharing firms, Motivate and Lime, will offer free rides on their bikes.

Lyft is also working alongside non-profit organisations to help blind people and student veterans to distribute discount codes and identify where free rides are needed.

The firm's efforts have been promoted on social media by celebrities such as actor Samuel L Jackson, another person who has been vocal with criticisms of Mr Trump.

Uber is offering $10 off rides to the polls across the country (AFP/Getty Images)

Uber is offering $10 off rides to the polls across the country and added a feature in its app that helps customers find their polling stations by typing in a home address.

"In this critically important election, we want to do our part and use Uber's technology to help drive the vote," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. "Decisions get made by those who show up and we believe Uber can help voters show up like never before."

This is the second time Lyft has offered discounted or free rides to the polls and Uber's first.

Zipcar, which allows members to rent cars on an hourly basis, is offering a $20 credit on election night, enough to cover about two hours of driving, said spokeswoman Katelyn Chesley.

It has been offering discounts for election-related rides since the company was founded in 2000.

"There's a lot of people who have really busy schedules during the daytime, and we just really want to make sure every last voice is heard," Ms Chesley said.

In 2016, 15 million eligible voters cited transportation as a key reason why they didn't vote, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University said.

Responding to this, Mike Masserman, head of social impact at Lyft, said: “We want to use our platform to eliminate that pain point from the voting process.”

Motivate, which operates most of the bike share programs in the US, is offering free day passes to ride bikes on Election Day in nine of its markets for the first time.

Lime is offering free rides on its bikes and scooters.

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