Uber, Lyft, bike share discounts and free rides on election day

Voters
cast ballots during the early voting period in Atlanta, Georgia
on October 18, 2018.

Jessica
McGowan/Getty Images

• Uber and Lyft are both offering election day
  discounts on rides to the polls.
• Motivate, which runs major bike share programs in nine
  cities, is offering free rides

Tuesday is
election day. To make it easier to get out and perform your
civic duty, Uber, Lyft and other companies are offering discount
codes to get to the polls and vote.

Here’s how to take advantage of their offers:

Uber

As long as your app is updated to the most recent version, a $10
off code for a single ride in the “most affordable option in your
city will be made available to users in their app on Election
Day,” the
company said in its announcement. But be aware,
the deal is not available in Utah, Michigan, or any US
territories.

Lyft

In similar fashion, Lyft is offering
50% off rides as well as an integration to help riders
find their polling place. What’s more, the company says it will
provide rides free of charge for underserved communities through
partnerships with nonprofit organizations.

The company points to research that shows low-income and minority
voters tend to have lower turnout rates than the general
population, and says the Election Day effort is a bid to help
change that disparity. In
2014, a study by Pew Research found that 46% of
nonvoters have family incomes of $30,000. For likely voters, on
the other hand, that percentage fell to 19%.

Bike sharing

Motivate — the bike share operator owned by Lyft — is also
offering free rides in nine of its systems on Election Day. 

By using the code BIKETOVOTE, you can ride for free to the polls
on in New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Minneapolis, San
Francisco Bay Area, Portland, and Columbus, Ohio. In Chicago, use
the code VOTE18 on the Divvy system. 

“We want to make it easier than ever to pedal to the polls
this Election Day,” Motivate spokesperson Julie Wood said in a
press release. “Too many Americans don’t vote
because they lack reliable and affordable transportation options.
As voters make their plans for November 6, we encourage the
millions living in cities served by our bike share networks to
take advantage of free rides and use bike share to get to and
from the polls.”