Rideshare App Offers L-Train Pass In Lieu Of Weekend Service

EAST VILLAGE, NY — New Yorkers fleeing the beleaguered L line as the MTA gears up for a 15-month shutdown of the Canaries Tunnel have a new option to get around town.

Straphangers are already feeling the pain of the impending April shutdown of the subway line — which shuttles some 250,000 riders per day between Manhattan and Brooklyn — with cuts to weekend L service in October and parts of November.

Ridershare service Via aims to capitalize on the commuting confusion with a new "L-Train ViaPass" at $19 per weekend.

New Yorkers commuting around Lower Manhattan below 23rd Street, Williamsburg and Bushwick can use the pass for up to four shared Via trips per day between Fridays starting at 11 p.m. through Mondays at 5 a.m., according to the rideshare company.

Image courtesy of Via

“Via's technology is designed to solve transportation problems exactly like this by automatically allocating supply to areas of higher demand, like we'll see once the closures take full effect,” said Caroline Hawkins, a spokeswoman for Via.

The company plans to increase its fleet of six-passenger vehicles in the subway starved swaths of Brooklyn and Manhattan during the shutdown to pack in as many commuters as possible per trip, said Hawkins.

"It will naturally create a fully dynamic on-demand shuttle service to serve impacted commuters, without the need for a fixed-route infrastructure," she said.

Riders must apply promotional code LTRAINVIAPASS to take advantage of the option in the Via app. Pass holders also have the added bonus of a 10 percent discount for all other city trips made through Via.

There will be no L train service between Manhattan and Brooklyn this weekend, as well as Oct. 27-28, Nov. 10-11 and Nov. 17-18 between 11:30 p.m. Fridays and 5 a.m. Mondays. Only service between Broadway Junction and Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway in Brooklyn will remain unaffected.

Even weeknight L service was cut short this week and won't return to normal until December.

In the meantime, the MTA is providing shuttle buses and beefing up nearby train and bus service in both Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Lead photo courtesy of Spencer Platt/Getty Images