Metro and a ride-hailing company have announced a partnership they say will make getting around easier. The transit company is encouraging its riders to use the app-based Uber.
Metro CEO Dwight Ferrell says bus riders who use Uber will get a discounted first ride.
"What we're expecting people to do, because some of them are already doing is at a point where either we don't go late enough for far enough, and they need to extend that trip, then they can take Uber to go the rest of the way," Ferrell says.
"The American Public Transportation Association, which is our industry trade association, has done a study and found that people who use ride-share are largely transit users," Ferrell says. "So, we wanted to take advantage of that."
Ferrell says he has seen and used similar partnerships in other cities, and says it works well.
"There are other partnerships in Dallas and Atlanta, just to name a few that have done this.
"And certainly as an industry we expect that other cities will be doing it," Ferrell says.
Uber's general manager in Cincinnati, Casey Verkamp says the company hopes to get new customers from Metro, and expects the transit service to attract new riders who use Uber.
"Uber and public transportation are actually very important compliments to one another, far from being substitutes.
"Uber usage actually spikes during the late night hours, which are often times when bus routes aren't running as frequently," Verkamp says.
Metro riders will soon see ads in buses with details on a discount for their first Uber trip.
