San Joaquin RTD enters pilot program with Uber

The San Joaquin Regional Transit District has entered into a pilot program with Uber Technologies Inc., and is set to reveal the details on this new venture during Tuesday’s San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting.

The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in board chambers, 44 N. San Joaquin St., Stockton.

According to RTD Public Information Officer Terry Williams, the program is called RTD Go and the goal of the program is to provide transportation in areas of the county that haven’t had regular access to public transportation in the past.

The program will also provide additional options in terms of transportation to and from public transportation centers and stations.

“At this point, we are developing a partnership with Uber and also with a provider of accessible transportation services to improve our transportation options in both of those areas,” Williams said.

A cost-saving promotion will be available through the Uber app or by calling RTD, he said.

RTD had explored working with a number of organizations to create a program like this and Uber just happened to have the technological capability to enable the services that the agency wanted to offer to the public.

After taking a look at a program managed by an agency out of Livermore, RTD used that information as a guide on how to offer better services to the more rural areas of San Joaquin County such as Lockeford, Linden and Mountain House.

According to Williams, the program will begin right away and the agency is conducting a soft launch this week. The cost of the new service will depend on the distance the person is traveling, and if the rider meets certain trip parameters subsidies will be available that can result in savings of up to 50 percent. The subsidies will be funded by RTD operations.

Williams said there is a limited budget allotted for this program and that once funds have been exhausted the agency will have to determine if the program will continue.