Silicon Valley commuters are feeling the pain of digging deeper into their wallets on a daily basis due to the ongoing VTA worker strike. To compensate for the extra outlay, VTA is partnering with Uber to support riders while bus and light rail services are down.
Starting Tuesday, VTA is providing riders with two $5 Uber vouchers every day, to help cover some of the transportation costs as riders wait for an agreement between the public transit agency and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 265, which represents about 1,500 frontline VTA workers. The union has been on strike since March 10, stopping bus and light rail services across Silicon Valley for 16 days.
To use the vouchers, the ride has to begin and end at a VTA bus or light rail stop, and riders will have to input the voucher on Uber’s mobile app. Nearly 200 rides have been redeemed as of Tuesday, according to VTA spokesperson Stacey Hendler Ross.
Hendler Ross said the agency is looking for ways to help cut the cost burden on riders, some of whom have been paying $100 daily for ride-share services such as Uber and Lyft. She said VTA isn’t sure how many people will use the vouchers, but $974 has been spent on rides as of Tuesday morning. It’s a pilot program that might change based on how popular it becomes.
“There’s no way we can just say, ‘Ok, we’re going to pay for your whole trip,’ … It’s just not financially possible for the agency,” Hendler Ross told San José Spotlight. “However, we hope that a $5 discount one way and a $5 discount the other way will be at least some help to people.”
She said the vouchers will be in place until the strike ends. Members of ATU Local 265 voted 83% to reject VTA’s latest offer Monday, and the union and agency were in mediation meetings Tuesday. The first hearing in VTA’s legal complaint case will be heard Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.
Monica Mallon, transit advocate and San José Spotlight columnist, said she used the VTA Uber voucher to get to work. Her job is about 11 miles away and it typically costs about $25 for an Uber ride. The voucher knocked $5 off her trip.
She said many riders don’t have cars or other means of transportation. She added that while riders are most likely to come back to using VTA once the strike is over, many are angry about the situation, so the vouchers show VTA cares about how the strike is impacting them. Even though the vouchers only cover a portion of the ride’s costs, the $10 saved from both can still go a long way.
“It’s going to be a hardship for riders who literally have no other option, each of these days they’re spending 10 to 20 times what they would normally spend,” Mallon told San José Spotlight. “It’s causing severe harm, they might not be able to pay bills.”
Contact B. Sakura Cannestra at [email protected] or @SakuCannestra on X.
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