PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — If you want to vote in Philadelphia on Tuesday but are having a tough time getting a ride to your polling place, a new service is around this year that has you covered.
There will be five "Voter Express" trolleys taking voters all around the city on Election Day, which was made possible by several groups, including IATSE Local 8.
"Very important, we want to stress a couple of things," said the organization's president Michael Barnes. "The rides are free and also this is a nonpartisan campaign. We welcome everyone on the trolley."
The trolleys have a designated route, where you can hop on at stops like you would a SEPTA bus, and they run in specific neighborhoods.
"We targeted neighborhoods that we believe could most benefit from free transportation," explained Barnes. "Some of the impoverished neighborhoods where we believe transportation is a challenge."
You can also call for your ride like you would an Uber.
The "Voter Express" takes all the proper COVID-19 precautions — every other seat is blocked off, masks are required and the windows stay open during the ride.
"It's a safe environment for you to come and get transportation to go vote," added Barnes.
There's also an entertainment aspect of this service, with music playing the entire time and voice-overs playing over the loudspeaker. Both of these are tailored to the neighborhood the trolley is riding through.
"We have Spanish-speaking voice-overs and Spanish music in neighborhoods that are predominantly Latino," said Barnes. "We tried to match the genre of music to the neighborhood we're in, again, to bring people together in a peaceful way to make them feel comfortable during their voting experience."
The trolley was available to take voters to ballot drop off locations Sunday and Monday, but Barnes said not a whole lot of people took advantage of that.
He expects more people to use this service on Tuesday, and said they already booked a trolley for several dozen senior citizens in the Northeast.
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