School’s back in session this week and the kids aren’t the only ones suffering.
So are commuters.
Back-to-school time also means back to the usual traffic woes in metro Atlanta, so enter Uber to try and help. Starting today, the ride-sharing service is offering half-price UberPOOL rides to and from MARTA stations during commuting hours.
The 50 percent off deal is good on weekdays from 5 a.m to 10 a.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Running from July 31 through September 29, it's a reprise of sorts of the "Commuting Together" campaign Uber launched in late March when the I-85 bridge collapsed.
The collapse closed major roads and sent hordes of new riders flocking to MARTA, which quickly started running out of parking. As MARTA urged passengers to get dropped off at or carpool to stations, Uber stepped in to offer discounted rides on UberPOOL, the service that allows passengers heading in the same direction to share rides and split the cost.
RELATED: I-85 bridge collapse: First-time riders pack MARTA in early morning hours
It worked. Competitor ride-sharing service Lyft later followed suit. Uber says now that 10 percent of all its commuter-hour trips during that period started or ended at MARTA stations, and that 8,000 of those riders took their first uberPOOL trips to MARTA.
Back to the UberPOOL back-to-school discount: It doesn’t apply to rides to or from the Airport MARTA station. Riders must enter the promo code “MARTACommute” into their app to redeem discount.
Find additional information at www.uber.com.
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