Much like their cars-for-hire, promotions for Uber and Lyft are now coming directly to college campuses.
The two companies have decided to actively focus on college students, launching new ways to target the 18-24 demographic, according to USA Today.
Starting this fall, Uber — known for its smartphone app that coordinates black sedan pickup — began visiting school campuses during welcome or orientation weeks. MIT, Boston University, Georgetown University, University of Maryland, University of San Diego and Temple University were among the schools targeted in the outreach effort, Uber spokesman Andrew Noyes told Red Alert Politics in an email.
“Our city teams are working directly with campus communities in a number of locations to make sure that young people know how to get a safe, reliable ride,” he said.
The company has also teamed up with textbook website Chegg to place a $20 Uber new rider card in various shipments of textbooks sent out. The car service currently operates in 20 cities nationwide and has recently started offering UberX, a lower-cost option to the normal black cars, in some locations. Uber also launched a promotion with Boston College to give first-time riders a $20 discount.
Lyft has also teamed up with schools — and student groups, including those in the Greek system — in Los Angeles and Boston in an effort to market its product, as well provide rides for specific, off-campus events. The mustachioed car service, with the tagline of “your friend with a car,” is a newer player on the car-for-hire scene.
Uber has recently made headlines for offering sober rides to NFL players and giving free rides to anyone leaving the Navy Yard area after the shooting on Monday.
At the time of this article, Lyft had not returned request for additional information on their college programs.
