The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) partners from this week with Uber to find new ways to fill the “last mile” gap between home and the train. In this pilot partnership between SEPTA and Uber, SEPTA patrons can hail an Uber ride share at a 40% discount for travel to and from 11 Regional Rail stations.
To receive the discount, the trip must begin or end in the station parking lot. Exact addresses for the stations, which you will need for pick-up and drop-off purposes, can be found on SEPTA’s Uber partnership website. Uber will provide data on usage and distance travelled to SEPTA on a confidential basis; that data will in turn allow the agency to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, which is designed both to increase ridership and to relieve pressure on the parking lots at these stations. The stations were chosen because they combine high ridership with limited parking availability. Should the pilot prove successful, SEPTA and Uber may extend the program and even expand it to more stations.
This announcement is in line with the recent study from APTA (reported on this website), where it was found out that rather than competing with public transportation, shared-ride services such as Uber and Lyft, car sharing networks like Zipcar and bike-sharing networks like Indego promote public transportation use.
To receive the discount, the trip must begin or end in the station parking lot. Exact addresses for the stations, which you will need for pick-up and drop-off purposes, can be found on SEPTA’s Uber partnership website. Uber will provide data on usage and distance travelled to SEPTA on a confidential basis; that data will in turn allow the agency to evaluate the effectiveness of the pilot program, which is designed both to increase ridership and to relieve pressure on the parking lots at these stations. The stations were chosen because they combine high ridership with limited parking availability. Should the pilot prove successful, SEPTA and Uber may extend the program and even expand it to more stations.
This announcement is in line with the recent study from APTA (reported on this website), where it was found out that rather than competing with public transportation, shared-ride services such as Uber and Lyft, car sharing networks like Zipcar and bike-sharing networks like Indego promote public transportation use.
Update 31/05/16: Uber fares are to be subsidised by up to 25% by four Florida cities together with Altamonte Springs which launched the pilot project in March. Further info.