ST. GEORGE - On Wednesday, the City of St. George offered residents a look into its proposed partnership with Uber to provide 50% discounts on rides within the city limits.

Residents gathered at St. George City Hall Wednesday afternoon to hear about the proposal, which would be available for anyone who rides an Uber that starts and ends in the city limits of St. George, staying within the city. However, only a certain number of rides per month would be discounted.

A person would have to enroll in the program to get the discount. As for how to enroll, the city says more information on that will become available before it launches.

The program will be funded by the city and the Uber Transit Innovation Fund. The city of St. George has budgeted up to $500,000 and also received a $50,000 grant from Uber for it.

"The city only pays when a resident actually rides. Riders always pay at least half the fare; $10 max per ride. Ten rides per month, and the council controls the annual budget," St. George Press Secretary Jadyn Devillier said.

Participants would be able to use 10 subsidized rides per month, with hospital trips to locations such as Our Lady of the Lake, Baton Rouge General, Woman's Hospital, and Ochsner being an exception that people could still use. 

"This is a program that if no one rides it or takes it, it costs $0.00; it only costs money if we get ridership, which again is in the boundary of St. George. The budget would be $500,000; it's a one-year pilot program, so if we hit that amount, it stops," St. George Mayor Pro Tem Andrew Murrell added.

If the city doesn't reach the budget max, Murrell says the city can possibly increase the subsidies or the ridership possibilities.

Murrell says the initiative is intended to supplement the Capital Area Transit System.

"Right now, there's a sizeable portion of our population that does not utilize public transportation. Maybe it's because they're not close enough to it. We're funneling riders in those other cities, funneling to those bus stops to take the rest of their trips," Murrell said.

WBRZ reached out to CATS for a statement about the potential partnership. The transit system said it would get back to us.

The city said it looked at several cities in Texas, such as Pflugerville and Kyle, that have partnerships with Uber, as examples for the possibility of the program.

"We survive off of a 2% sales tax, so potentially those trips are actually making money back to the city of St. George," Murrell said.

The city plans to reevaluate the program quarterly and plans for the program to go through the remainder of the fiscal year, which began in July and ends next June.

If the city council chooses to pass the proposal, a company called Trip Consulting will implement the program and monitor all aspects of it, according to Murrell.

Murrell says the vote could take place at next Tuesday's council meeting.

However, concerns have been raised by some residents, like Helen Mason, who isn't sold on this proposal. She pointed out that if the $10 cap was used on all 10 rides, only a smaller number of residents and visitors could theoretically use it before the $500,000 max would eventually be hit.

"Are we going to be in our budget, or is this going to result in a new tax millage on our property taxes that we keep seeing increase year after year?" Mason asked. "Ten rides a month and spent the $10. That's a lot of money and not a lot of service," she added.

However, Murrell says that potentially there are over 40,000 rides that could be given.

Mason says the money could be better used for other forms of transportation, like better sidewalks or bike lanes.

"A lot of other cities use walking or biking, and you can connect pathways and people can get around that way without just expanding roads; even metro rails would be another idea," Mason said.

WBRZ learned from Uber that any of its drivers who are in the area at that time could give those rides.

If the council votes to pass the proposal, Murrell hopes to have the program ready by October.