Searching for smart, safe news you can TRUST?
Support safe, smart, REAL journalism. Sign up for our Axios AM & PM newsletters and get smarter, faster.
Searching for smart, safe news you can TRUST?
Support safe, smart, REAL journalism. Sign up for our Axios AM & PM newsletters and get smarter, faster.
Denver news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Des Moines news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Minneapolis-St. Paul
Tampa-St. Petersburg news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa-St. Petersburg
Photo: Wang Ying/Xinhua via Getty Images
Ride-hailing companies and other tech mobility firms are trying to make sure all eligible citizens have an opportunity to vote.
Why it matters: A 2016 Harvard study found 14% of eligible voters cited transportation as a barrier to casting their ballot.
What's happening: Transportation companies are helping people find their polling place, providing discounted rides to the polls — and even handing out free food to those waiting in line to vote.
- Uber has a poll-finding feature in its app and is offering 50% off trips to the polls, while Uber Eats is deploying 250 food trucks across 25 cities to feed voters.
- Lyft is also offering discounted rides to the polls, and partnering with nonprofit groups to provide free ride codes to underserved communities and formerly incarcerated people.
- TransLoc, whose technology is used by 400 transit agencies in the U.S., has incorporated polling places into its transit maps.
What they're saying: “Transportation should never be a barrier to getting to the polls, no matter how you choose to cast your ballot on Election Day — especially for those in underserved areas and those who need it most,” Anthony Foxx, Lyft's chief policy officer, said in a statement.