Ridesharing company lowers prices, and gives free rides to ACL

One ridesharing business is staying true to its promise of lowering prices. On top of that they have some new features helping drivers and riders.  Even more good news, they are helping provide free rides to ACL coming up in just a few weeks.

Starting this week RideAustin riders will pay $0.99 per mile which they said makes them the most affordable TNC in the market. Also, this week they launched their android driver app which will help get more drivers back on the road.

Launching back in June, RideAustin a non-profit TNC made the promise to lower their prices without affecting drivers pay and they did just that this week. Joe Deshotel, is the Director of Community Engagement for RideAustin “We dropped our prices about 33-percent and so that us made us the lowest in the market so by a few percentage points,” he said.  Drivers keep 100% percent of fares, there is a $1.50 booking fee paid by the rider, that's how Deshotel says they keep the business operating. “That goes to pay our overhead, that goes to pay our staff, and keep the lights on, and also improve the app itself.”

A new big improvement for their App, they launched their Android Driver App, which means more drivers on the roads and less wait times for riders. “That's the idea getting more supply out there to kind of meet the demand,” Deshotel said.  That demand is going to be increasing significantly. With Uber out of town, RideAustin has stepped in their place and teamed up with Honda to give free rides to ACL. “With all that we are going to need as many driver partners coming on board to help us fulfill that supply, because lots more members of the community are finding out about RideAustin and starting to take and use the service,” Deshotel said.

Being a non-profit, RideAustin said they have more control over their product. “We never have to worry about a certain profit margin to give to investors in order to make them happy.”  Deshotel said they hope to keep good on the promise of low fares and better pay for drivers. “We're going to see how this actually works over the next few weeks and if it works as it think it will work drivers should be making more money and riders should be having more reliable service with shorter wait times.”

If you want to sign up to be a driver for RideAustin, click here for more information. 

For more information on Honda and RideAustin’s free rides to ACL, click here.