Money

Uber is offering disabled and elderly election voters free rides on election day tomorrow


UBER is giving free rides to disabled and elderly voters who need to get to the polling station on Thursday.

The cab firm will take passengers to the polls between 7am and 10pm to cast their vote in the General Election for free, up to £10 each way.

 Uber is giving free rides to disabled and elderly voters on election day

1

Uber is giving free rides to disabled and elderly voters on election dayCredit: Getty – Contributor

The freebie is available to voters in seven UK cities, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool and Brighton.

Uber has joined forces with charities in each of the cities, such as Whizz-Kidz, Transport for All and Scope, who will provide the special codes to those who need them.

Voters will then need to type in the code when the book their ride using Uber Access and Uber Assist to bring the cost of the journey to £0.

The scheme is based on the firm’s “Uber drives the vote” campaign that runs in the United States and which it brought to the UK during the 2017 election.

New Uber safety features revealed

Here are some of the new Uber safety features added since TfL’s landmark probation ruling in September 2017…

  • A dedicated Safety Toolkit in the Uber app means that riders and drivers can easily access important features to keep them safe and prevent incidents
  • Trusted Contacts: Designate up to five friends and family members to be prompted to follow your journey with live trip details
  • Emergency assistance: Connect directly with emergency services through the app. The app will show your real-time location and vehicle information
  • Address anonymisation: In addition to rider and driver mobile numbers, rider’s specific pick-up and drop-off addresses are now concealed
  • In-app safety centre for drivers: Uber’s one-stop shop for safety resources includes tips, insurance protections and community guidelines
  • Check Your Ride alerts help make sure riders are getting into the correct licensed vehicle
  • Cycle lane alerts notify riders to check for cyclists before opening the door near a cycle path
  • Uber’s 24/7 support centre is staffed by 300 specially trained agents dedicated to improving the safety of drivers and riders.
  • Limits to driver hours mean that a licensed driver can only spend 10 hours en route to, and on-trip with, a passenger before they are required to log out

 

Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager in northern and eastern Europe, said: “We believe that everyone should be able to have their say, so we’re delighted to be working with organisations like Scope, Whizz-Kidz and Transport for All to offer free trips to and from the polls this Thursday.”

Kirsty Hoyle, from Transport for All, added: “Too often disabled people are isolated by societal barriers that limit their opportunities to participate in the parts of life that others take for granted and we hope this encourages everyone to get out and vote.”

The cab firm is also giving NHS staff £20 off Uber Eats deliveries or Uber taxis over the Christmas period.

But the future of Uber currently hangs in the balance after it lost its London licence for a second time.

Transport for London revoked its licence when it discovered that at least 14,000 journeys were made by drivers who weren’t the ones shown in the app.

It now has 21 days to launch an appeal. It is permitted to operate in the meantime.

Uber LOSES London licence for second time as firm faces ban from capital





READ SOURCE

Leave a Reply

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.