Freedom ain’t free. But for many voters in next week’s midterm elections, rides to the polls will be.
Numerous travel startups and public transit agencies will offer free or discounted trips to the polls on Election Day, providing turnout-boosting transportation assistance during an already high-profile midterm—and an experiment in how transportation and voting are linked. University of Florida professor and election scholar Michael McDonald believes voter participation this year could be at a rate “that most people have never experienced in their lives for a midterm election.”
“Transportation to the polls is often a challenge for many Americans on Election Day,” says Alex Youn, spokesperson for electric scooter company Lime. “So we felt we had an opportunity to help people make their voices heard and overcome a barrier that may have kept them from participating in the democratic process.”
The sheer number of transit startups investing in civic engagement on November 6 means many voters will have multiple options to get to their polling place next Tuesday. Lyft is providing half-off rides nationwide through a partnership with nonprofits working to encourage civic engagement, and will offer codes for free rides, via partner groups, to underserved communities.
Lime will give users free rides of up to 30 minutes across the company’s fleet of shared bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters. Zipcar will give users a $20 credit for renting a car on election night, between 6 and 10 p.m. Motivate, the national bike-share service recently purchased by Lyft, will also offer free trips in all the markets where it operates, including Citi Bike in New York and Jersey City, Divvy in Chicago, and Ford GoBike in the Bay Area. Skip scooters will give users a $5 credit.
Uber will offer $10 off a single ride via its most inexpensive options, usually the Pool shared-ride option, as well as a poll locator button in the app that will help route users to their polling place.
“We’ve never done a nationwide discounted or free ride to the polls before,” says Uber’s Matthew Wing.
In addition, cities and public transit agencies across the country will also offer free trips. Los Angeles Metro, which carries roughly 1.3 million passengers daily, will offer free rides on all bus routes and rail lines, a move expected to cost $600,000 in lost fares. Houston, Dallas, and Tampa transit agencies will also offer free rides, many just requiring a voter ID card before boarding.
All this adds up to an unprecedented experiment in free transit and turnout-boosting travel options. According to Rey Junco, a senior researcher at the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University, current data suggests the youth vote is especially engaged and excited in this election, perhaps voting in numbers that may rival a presidential election year.
He believes these free transit options can make a difference, especially for this age group.
“The statistician part of me can’t give you a good estimate,” he says, “but the general researcher in me says I wouldn’t be surprised if it had some impact, especially in closer races.”