Beginning this fall, students will be eligible to receive three free Uber vouchers, provided the ride starts or ends within the patrol zone of Temple’s Main Campus or Health Sciences Center campus.

As part of its efforts to provide students with more transportation options and additional flexibility, Temple University has partnered with Uber to launch a new pilot program that goes into effect at the start of the fall 2026 semester. 

Temple University students will soon be eligible to receive three free Uber vouchers (up to a $10 value per ride) for use during the fall semester. The pilot program, which will launch Thursday, Sept. 10, will be available to all students enrolled at Main Campus, the Health Sciences Center campus (HSC), Temple University Center City (TUCC), School of Podiatric Medicine and Temple Ambler. The pilot will run through the final day of the fall semester, Friday, Dec. 18. 

“This new pilot program is a direct response to some of the concerns we have heard from students,” said Jonathan Reiter, Temple’s vice president for business affairs. “While our Flight program is still used by a portion of our student population, ridership has decreased in recent years, and we have received feedback that there is a desire for an on-demand, door-to-door rideshare service with an expanded geographic boundary. Through this new pilot program with Uber, we can provide that.” 

To complement the new Uber pilot program, Flight, the university’s nighttime fixed-route shuttle loop service, will continue to operate as normal, but shuttles will now arrive at each shuttle stop every 30 minutes compared to every 15 minutes. 

All 50-plus Flight stops will continue to be serviced, and riders will still be able to track the locations of each shuttle in real time using the TransLoc app. The Flight service will also continue to operate seven days a week from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. 

“Given our ridership data, we expect to still fully meet the service demands for our regular Flight riders with the new 30-minute schedule. We also expect that the new Uber pilot program will be used by a portion of the Temple student population that may have never used Flight previously,” Reiter said. “We see the combination of Flight plus the Uber pilot program as a way to provide students with the best of both worlds.” 

Temple’s Office of Business Services worked directly with Uber to build this pilot program from scratch, ensuring that it appropriately meets the needs of Temple’s student population. The pilot has been modeled after similar programs that have successfully launched at other large, urban universities like Temple. 

Internal Uber ridership data also informed the development of the vouchers. The cost of the average Uber ride to or from Temple’s Main Campus aligns closely with the $10 price that Temple will provide to students through its vouchers. 

Specific details related to the new pilot program are as follows: 

• All full-time degree-seeking students whose primary campus is Main, HSC, Ambler, TUCC or Podiatry will receive an email to add the vouchers to their Uber account. 
• The vouchers can only be used Thursday, Friday and Saturday between 6 p.m. and 3 a.m. each night. 
• The rides must start or end within the Main Campus or HSC patrol zones. 
• Students traveling together can use a single voucher per ride to make the most of the program.  

In addition to the Uber pilot program and Flight shuttle service, Temple’s many public safety resources continue to be in place. 

Specifically, the Walking Escort service is available 24/7, 365 days a year within Temple’s patrol zone boundaries. To request an escort, students can call 8-WALK (8-9255) from a campus phone or 215-777-9255 from a cell phone. 

Virtual Walk Homes are also available through the TUSafe app. Through the service, a Public Safety dispatcher tracks and monitors the user until they notify the app that they have reached their destination. 

For more information on the new Uber pilot program, visit the program’s website.