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Altamonte Springs, Uber unveil pilot program

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — The city of Altamonte Springs and Uber unveiled a pilot program Monday designed to help promote ride sharing and increase the number of SunRail riders.
 
Starting Monday, Uber riders going to or from the city's SunRail station will receive a 25 percent discount if the ride stays in city limits. The city's SunRail station has some of the lowest ridership numbers historically.

Riders can receive a 20 percent discount if they use Uber within city limits.

City leaders tried to bring a Flexbus system, which allows for on-demand bus rides, to the city, but it fell through when Lynx backed out. 
 
Leaders said $500,000 has been budgeted to give riders the discount.
 
To receive the discount, riders can enter the word "Altamonte" in the promo-code box.
 
"It gives you the opportunity to make the choice when you want to, where you want to go, how you want to go and that level of convenience is going to be necessary for SunRail to succeed long term," Altamonte Springs city manager Frank Martz said.
 
The program is scheduled to last for one year. Following that year, Martz said the city will put out requests for other transportation solutions and decide what it'd like to do long term.