Uber Offers Free Rides Thanksgiving Eve In NJ, Or Take $10 Off

CENTRAL JERSEY — The night before Thanksgiving — Wednesday evening — is well-known as one of the biggest bar-hopping nights of the year, as friends come home from college and reunite, and everyone is off for the holiday the next day.

But the haunt of drunk driving is always lurking, and that's why Uber is offering free rides up to $10 for customers, or $10 off the total, in Central and South Jersey, from Middlesex County down to Cape May.

To qualify as free, the rides must be $10 and under and booked between 9 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27 and 3 a.m. on Thursday, November 28. To get the free ride, enter the promo code “SAFERIDENJ19” into the Uber app, tap payment, and then Add Promo/Gift Code. (A 2015 study by Money magazine found the average Uber ride cost $13.36.)

However, if the ride is more than $10, then the driver will take $10 off the fare.

Uber will not make any money on these rides, an Uber spokesman explained. The driver gets paid the same amount they always would and her or she will not even know the rider has a coupon.

So if the ride is $20, the rider will pay $10, but the driver will still make $17 or $18 depending on the time and distance of the trip, said the spokesman.

Uber offered the same program last year in South Jersey, and the company said it was very successful. In 2019, they expanded it to include the middle part of the state.

Uber is defining "Central Jersey" quite liberally: You qualify for a free ride if you are located in the following counties: Middlesex, Somerset Monmouth, Ocean, Mercer, Burlington, Camden, Atlantic, Gloucester, Cumberland, Salem and Cape May.

Uber is offering this as a partnership with the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers.

The HERO Campaign was established by the family of John Elliott of Egg Harbor Township, who was killed in a July 2000 collision with a drunk driver two months after graduating from the United States Naval Academy.

His father, Bill Elliot is chairman of the non-profit he founded in his son's memory.

“Thanksgiving eve serves as the kickoff to the holiday season,” he said. “By making Uber their designated driver, they are doing their part to help end drunk driving and make our roads safer.”

The HERO campaign works with the beverage industry; professional sports teams including the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Football Giants, the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution; Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby; and Keeneland Race Course, home of the 2015 Breeder’s Cup. They say their efforts have helped lead to a 20 percent reduction in DUI fatalities in New Jersey over the past decade.

"Thanksgiving and the holidays are a time to celebrate with family and loved ones, and I'm glad to see Uber partner with HERO to make sure people in New Jersey celebrate responsibly and get home safely," said Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin, a Democrat who represents Metuchen, East Brunswick, Edison and other towns in the 18th legislative district. "I hope anyone going out this holiday season will take advantage."

More than 1,000 people die nationally between Thanksgiving and New Years due to impaired driving crashes. And an independent study conducted by Temple University found that Uber’s entrance into various cities in California resulted in a five percent decrease in the number of people killed in alcohol-related car crashes.