Travelers in Eugene, Ore., can use an app to summon a free ride in an electric vehicle during the workweek starting today. It’s a pilot program, and organizers say local business owners, including owners of downtown shops and restaurants, need to help promote it to make it work.
The service runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, and serves about 70 stops throughout the city. The vehicles look like small buses and hold five passengers each, and the hope is that people will enjoy the convenience and green benefits–and the chance to socialize along the way–enough to think about giving up their single-occupant vehicles some of the time.