Grabbing Uber or Lyft after night out? Boise to test pickup, drop-off zone for 8th St. bars
“Have you seen my Uber?”
On any given Friday or Saturday night downtown, you can find a herd of phone-clutching bar patrons standing along Main Street or 8th Street, waving down drivers. On Main between 5th and 6th streets, Boise designated a zone where drivers can pause to pick up or drop off riders, but cannot park.
Now, the city will test out a second drop-off zone near 8th Street with hopes that it, too, will reduce congestion and improve the traffic flow by another bar-heavy hub, according to a city of Boise news release. The second zone will be located on the south side of Bannock Street between 8th Street and Capitol Boulevard, near Thomas Hammer Coffee Roasters.
The city will put this new zone in place starting this Friday and will test it on weekends until Sunday, Nov. 24. During that time, the city will ban parking in that zone from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Friday night-Saturday morning and Saturday night-Sunday morning. Motorists who park on that stretch of Bannock will be issued tickets and could be towed.
The city of Boise called its initial pickup and drop-off area, which runs along the stretch of bars frequented by Boise State students and young adults, a success.
The city tested out that first drop-off zone in April 2018, the Statesman reported. It was permanently implemented it in May 2019.
If the second pilot plan works, the city could choose to permanently implement that pickup/drop-off zone on Bannock for ride-hailing services.
Many cities, such as Cincinnati, Ohio, and Lincoln, Nebraska, have created designated areas in popular nightlife spots for drivers with Uber and Lyft to use. In 2018, Washington, D.C., added several 24-hour-a-day curbside spaces designated for ride-hailing services to keep the vehicles from stopping in bikes lanes and crosswalks, The Washington Post reported.
This story was originally published October 23, 2019 at 4:23 PM.
