Need a ride to cast your ballot on election day?
LA Metro and Long Beach Transit will get you to a vote center or — if you’ve already filled out your ballot — to an official drop box to slide in your completed vote-by-mail ballot.
And all rides will be free on Tuesday, March 5, from midnight until 11:59 p.m.
LA Metro is offering free rides on all its six train lines, 2,200 buses, Metro Bike Share and Metro Micro (van rideshare service).
Train turnstiles from Santa Monica, to downtown LA to Long Beach, Pasadena, Azusa and North Hollywood for example will be free-flowing. On buses, there will be signs saying fares are free. In other words, no tapping required. The on-demand rideshare service, Metro Micro, is free when using the code Primary24 when booking a trip on the app, or by calling 323-466-3876 and pressing option 5.
Feel like biking it? Metro’s bike rentals — as seen on sidewalks or train/bus depots — is free with the promo code 303524 when accessing a bike. You will still need a credit or debit card when booking online, at a kiosk or through the Metro Bike Share app.
Metro has created an interactive map that shows in-person voting centers with a blue star, and ballot boxes with a yellow check mark. The LA County registrar’s office will have 644 regional Vote Centers open on Tuesday, election day. They are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Also, if you’ve got that ballot ready, voters can reach any of the nine vote-by-mail drop boxes situated at the following Metro stations: El Monte Bus Station, Harbor Freeway Station, Harbor Gateway Transit Center, Hollywood/Western Station, North Hollywood Station B, Norwalk Station, Westlake/MacArthur Park Station, Wilshire/Vermont Station, and at LA’s Union Station in the eastern portal.
Long Beach Transit’s free rides will be on their buses that span a service area of 100 square miles across 14 cities in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Besides Long Beach, LBT goes to: Carson, Lakewood, Paramount, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Los Alamitos, Norwalk and Seal Beach.
Also, LBT is offering free rides on its Dial-A-Lift, a paratransit service for those with mobility limitations.
Will not having to pay what is usually $1.75 per ride each way on LA Metro buses and trains encourage voter turnout for this 2024 Presidential Primary in LA County?
That remains to be seen. But Metro and others say it can’t hurt.
“I think it helps because they’ve consolidated these voting centers. Generally, we are supportive of the idea of having more fare-free days as a way to promote public transit as a civic and public service,” said Eli Lipmen, executive director of Move LA on Monday, March 4.
He said free mass transit may especially help the aging population get to the polls or to a drop-off box. “A lot of campaigns will drive older adults who cannot drive and drive them to the polls. Now they do have an option,” Lipmen added.
LA Metro began offering free rides on all federal and state election days in 2019, while Long Beach Transit started in 2018.
A listing of local Vote Centers, including operating hours is available at https://locator.lavote.net/. For more information, visit www.metro.net.