The City of Orlando’s Downtown Development Board and the Community Redevelopment Agency are working to launch a pilot program for a late night rideshare program that could help to streamline the  nightly exodus of the thousands of patrons leaving Downtown Orlando’s entertainment area on weekend nights.

On any given weekend and in the evening, at 2 a.m., there is a mass migration into the streets, towards parking garages, late-night food options, and convenient  locations to call for a ride when venues are forced to close.  

These new rideshare hubs are expected to operate from midnight to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday night for visitors looking to leave downtown in a more orderly manner. According to City spokesperson Karyn Barber, the Rideshare Hub areas will include rideshare/taxi queuing lines, food vendors and/or food truck offerings, and public restrooms in a well-lit and patrolled zone.  

Editor’s Note: You’ll recall from this previous “Bring to Orlando” column that there is a distinct lack of public restrooms for late night bar goers to use once the clubs have closed, which leads to a large amount of patrons pissing in the streets.

Uber and Lyft have reportedly offered to coordinate geo-fencing around the Downtown area to direct customers to pick up their rideshare in these designated pilot hub locations which includes:

  • Magnolia Rideshare Hub, located at Heritage Square [GMap]
  • Gertrude Rideshare Hub [GMap]

The city is planning to launch a 6 month pilot by the end of April, led by Night Manager (#barczar) Dominique Greco. Read more about Greco’s innovative position in the City HERE.

ARTISTIC RENDERING OF RIDESHARE HUB VIA CITY OF ORLANDO

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