LA Metro offers free rides on Election Day
LOS ANGELES - With the Nov. 5 election five days away, Metro will offer free rides throughout its system to ensure voters can vote in person or drop off their mail-in-ballot, the transit agency announced Thursday.
Metro will not collect fares from midnight to 11:59 p.m. on Super Tuesday on its buses, trains, bike-and-ride share programs. Some cities in the L.A. region will also provide free transit rides such as Culver City, Santa Monica, Glendale, Pasadena, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Foothill, Norwalk and Montebello, officials noted.
"Metro encourages all eligible county residents to exercise their constitutional right to vote," according to a news release from the agency. "By offering free rides on Election Day, Metro is doing its part to encourage voter turnout and make it easier for people to travel to and from local polling places."
The agency's bike-share program will provide free 30-minute rides, which can be accessed using promo code 110524.
Users can select "1-Ride" at any Metro Bike Share kiosk, online or in the Metro Bike Share app and enter the code at checkout to redeem the free ride. A credit or debit card is required.
The promo code may be redeemed multiple times throughout the day. Electric Metro Bike fees are waived, and bike rides are an additional $1.75 for each half hour after the first 30 minutes.
Metro Micro provides short trips in eight zones across Los Angeles County. Use the coupon code Vote24 when booking your trip on the app, online, or through the call center at 323-GO-METRO (323-466-3876) and press option 5. This coupon code is only valid on Election Day.
The transit agency partnered with the L.A. County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office to expand voting access for people who use or live near Metro stations.
Mail-in-ballot drop boxes were placed in "unpaid areas, in clear view of CCTV cameras, and designed to deter tampering," according to the agency, which is something that has been done in previous elections.
The boxes will be available at the following stations:
- Union Station, east portal;
- El Monte Bus Transit Center, plaza area;
- Harbor Gateway Transit center, transit plaza area;
- Harbor Freeway C Line, park and ride area;
- Hollywood/Western B Line, plaza area;
- North Hollywood B Line, east plaza area;
- Norwalk C Line, east plaza area;
- Westlake/MacArthur Park B & D lines, courtyard area; and
- Wilshire/Vermont B & D lines, courtyard area.
Metro headquarters in Union Station will have a voting center on Tuesday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.