JUPITER, Fla. — A town program in Jupiter that’s hoping to save people money, but most importantly their lives are off to a successful start in 2020.
Councilmember Ilan Kaufer says a record number of people took advantage of its partnership with Uber that offered $15 vouchers to people on New Year’s Eve, and the police department reported no DUI arrests during the same time period.
“I think this is an additional tool the town will use to reduce incidents of drunk driving,” said Kaufer.
Kaufer says he first proposed the idea to his fellow council members after a friend in college was severely injured in an accident involving alcohol. He didn’t want anyone else to suffer due to someone else’s mistake.
“Seeing that almost 200 people participated in the program over New Year’s is really encouraging,” said Kaufer.
The town spent $2463.67 on New Year’s Eve. The same report shows that 196 vouchers were used although more than 800 vouchers were initially claimed through the Uber app.
In a statement from Uber they applaud Jupiter for spearheading efforts to make the community safer.
“Jupiter was the first Florida municipality to use our vouchers producer to offer residents a discount on Uber trips for the holidays and we look forward to working with other municipalities in the future to offer alternatives to drinking and driving,” said Uber spokesperson Javi Correoso.
The Town of Jupiter hopes to encourage other municipalities throughout the state to keep their residents safe and get them in the habit of using a rideshare company when spending a night out on the town, rather than drive.
“We’ve budgeted about $20,000 for the fiscal year so our goal is to evolve the program through lessons we learn with each time,” said Kaufer.
The council plans to use this voucher system again on St. Patrick’s Day in March and then again on Memorial Day and Labor Day in addition to Fourth of July, Thanksgiving weekend and New Year’s Eve.