Evesham to partner with ride service Companies
Date Posted:
Fri, Oct 16 2015,
Philly.com
Evesham's nightlife never looked quite this good.
The Burlington County town announced Thursday that it will partner with two big-name ride-service companies to transport bar- and restaurant-goers to their homes late at night - part of a continued effort to combat drunken driving - through the end of the year. For free.
"You can sit at a bar and literally push a button on your phone and have someone come pick you up," Mayor Randy Brown said. "We wanted to make it that easy."
Uber, a popular car-service company, will feature an Evesham "safe ride" option for customers to request free rides through UberX. And with BeMyDD, Evesham residents will be able to catch a lift home in their own vehicles, with the help of drivers dispatched through the company.
Customers at 21 bars and restaurants in Evesham can use the service between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. every day until Jan. 2, 2016; drop-off locations must be in the town's nearly 30 square miles. The free Uber rides were scheduled to begin Thursday night, Brown said, and BeMyDD will be available next weekend.
It's the first partnership of its kind for Uber, company officials said. Local officials hailed the program as unique also because it requires no money from taxpayers or the riders. It will be funded solely through donations, including some from the local nonprofit Evesham Celebrations Foundation.
"This program has never been done in the United States of America, or anywhere in the world we can find," Brown said.
The efforts are an extension of a pilot program Evesham began Labor Day weekend, called Evesham Saving Lives, which relied on shuttles and a Bellmawr-based transportation service, Sober Sam. During that initial program, the town transported about 350 people home.
Officials said they were spurred to get creative to curb rising drunken-driving rates.
There were 226 DUI cases in the town between July 2014 and June 2015, according to municipal court statistics filed with the New Jersey Judiciary, compared with 141 such filings between July 2009 and June 2010. With the exception of the latest year's rate - which showed a small decline (from 239 cases recorded from July 2013 to June 2014) - the offenses rose every year.
"We were on pace to break every DUI record that Evesham has ever had," even despite ramped-up enforcement, Brown said. He said there were eight DUI arrests in September, when the pilot program started, compared with 22 in August.
"We know that when people have reliable options like Uber to get a ride home, they're more likely to make smarter choices," Ana Mahony, general manager of Uber New Jersey, said in a statement.
About $7,500 has been raised for the program, Brown said, adding that an anonymous donor has committed to help ensure the program is funded through Jan. 2. After that, the town will evaluate how, when, and where it was used to plan for future steps.
"It will be my goal that it will be woven into what we do in Evesham for as long as I'm mayor," Brown said.
The Burlington County town announced Thursday that it will partner with two big-name ride-service companies to transport bar- and restaurant-goers to their homes late at night - part of a continued effort to combat drunken driving - through the end of the year. For free.
"You can sit at a bar and literally push a button on your phone and have someone come pick you up," Mayor Randy Brown said. "We wanted to make it that easy."
Uber, a popular car-service company, will feature an Evesham "safe ride" option for customers to request free rides through UberX. And with BeMyDD, Evesham residents will be able to catch a lift home in their own vehicles, with the help of drivers dispatched through the company.
Customers at 21 bars and restaurants in Evesham can use the service between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. every day until Jan. 2, 2016; drop-off locations must be in the town's nearly 30 square miles. The free Uber rides were scheduled to begin Thursday night, Brown said, and BeMyDD will be available next weekend.
It's the first partnership of its kind for Uber, company officials said. Local officials hailed the program as unique also because it requires no money from taxpayers or the riders. It will be funded solely through donations, including some from the local nonprofit Evesham Celebrations Foundation.
"This program has never been done in the United States of America, or anywhere in the world we can find," Brown said.
The efforts are an extension of a pilot program Evesham began Labor Day weekend, called Evesham Saving Lives, which relied on shuttles and a Bellmawr-based transportation service, Sober Sam. During that initial program, the town transported about 350 people home.
Officials said they were spurred to get creative to curb rising drunken-driving rates.
There were 226 DUI cases in the town between July 2014 and June 2015, according to municipal court statistics filed with the New Jersey Judiciary, compared with 141 such filings between July 2009 and June 2010. With the exception of the latest year's rate - which showed a small decline (from 239 cases recorded from July 2013 to June 2014) - the offenses rose every year.
"We were on pace to break every DUI record that Evesham has ever had," even despite ramped-up enforcement, Brown said. He said there were eight DUI arrests in September, when the pilot program started, compared with 22 in August.
"We know that when people have reliable options like Uber to get a ride home, they're more likely to make smarter choices," Ana Mahony, general manager of Uber New Jersey, said in a statement.
About $7,500 has been raised for the program, Brown said, adding that an anonymous donor has committed to help ensure the program is funded through Jan. 2. After that, the town will evaluate how, when, and where it was used to plan for future steps.
"It will be my goal that it will be woven into what we do in Evesham for as long as I'm mayor," Brown said.