Federal grant helps connect Pierce County commuters to transit points



PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Commuters in Puyallup have a new free transportation option thanks to a federal grant.

The service called Limited Access Connections allows Pierce Transit to partner with a rideshare company for free rides to connect commuters to transit points.  The active zones in Puyallup include taking some college students home at night from Pierce College in Puyallup if they live in the zone.

"Basically, each of the zones in our service area is associated with a promo code and once you enter that into your Lyft account, you will see that if you're in one of the active zones when it's active your ride will be cost-free. And, so the assumption is that you're going to be going to or from a point that we have a transit connection, so you continue your journey on the bus." said Penny Grellier of Pierce Transit.

The zone that is active in Puyallup for college students is weeknights from 8:30 to 10:30 because buses stop serving the college at 8:00 p.m.

The program is expected to run into the spring.  Officials say the idea is to find out how transit agencies can successfully partner with rideshare companies and to find out things like what parts of service areas don't have regular bus service that are growing and would like to have it.

To find out if you're in an active zone for a free ride to your transit connection point, click here for Pierce Transit's interactive map.