RYDE’s Shuttle Transportation Service to Pope Francis Papal Mass Gains Momentum

Aug. 19, 2015 - PRLog -- Pope Francis is attending the World Meeting of Families (WMOF) in Philadelphia next month, highlighted by a Papal Mass September 27^th on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art that is expected to draw millions of people. Huge transportation challenges with environmental impact will exist as people converge on the city, something RYDE – a crowdsourced rideshare transportation company – is excited to take on. RYDE is currently communicating with GO GROUND, the official transportation management company for the WMOF, to register buses and bring individuals, church groups, and other group affiliations from all over the east coast to Philadelphia. RYDE does its part to protect Mother Earth also as each bus it sends will take approximately 30 passenger vehicles off the road; reducing carbon emissions and saving the environment has been a central theme in Pope Francis’ recent speeches.

“This is truly the event of a lifetime, and Philadelphia will have their hands full trying to create a logistically viable plan to ensure as many people as possible get to experience the Papal Mass on Sunday,” said Brian Allman, CEO of RYDE.  “Our goal in working closely with GO GROUND is to get our passengers close to Benjamin Franklin Parkway in the easiest way possible in light of the challenges of two million people descending on the city. RYDE has built relationships with church groups, bus operators, and the organizers themselves to try to make the travel process as painless as possible.”

Updated communications from Mayor Nutter’s office speak to designated road closures around the city, enhancing safety but creating additional restrictions on access. RYDE is one of the few transportation companies with the logistical know-how and customer service savvy to make this process appear seamless to their passengers. RYDE’s experience nurturing relationships for live event transportation in the music festival, sporting event, and large-scale rally sectors is helping them gain traction in producing RYDEs for these church groups and crowd-sourced individuals. Partnerships with bus operators across the U.S. provides in-roads to the inventory of “registered operators”, and RYDE provides the marketing and communications to bring the disparate organizations together.

“There are a tremendous number of church-affiliated groups who are arranging trips to see the Pope, and many of them are realizing that it’s difficult to coordinate with the bus operators, collect money, organize signs-ups, and other responsibilities,” noted Allman. “RYDE offers each church group a dedicated URL to our ticketing software that takes care of seat reservations, and our team at RYDE handles the rest. We’ve had very positive feedback to our solution for many churches.”

The bus transportation process will be highly regulated for the Pope’s visit; all commercial and private operators are required to register their buses at GO GROUND to be able to receive a parking pass for designated parking spots at the stadium facilities south of town; these include Lincoln Financial Field, Wells Fargo Center, and Citizen’s Bank Park. A walk of approximately four miles is then required to reach the blockaded area of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and ability to see the Pope.

RYDE Pick-Up States (find more specific pick-up cities and locations at www.RYDEthere.com; Church-based RYDEs will receive the URL from their church contact.)

         Pennsylvania          Connecticut          New York

         New Jersey          Massachusetts          Delaware

         Virginia          North Carolina          Maryland

         Washington, DC          Rhode Island

RYDE Seat Information

Seats may be purchased at RYDEthere.com (http://rydethere.com/rydes/country-thunder). The website provides additional information on all the pick-up locations and times, as well as city-specific pricing information. For additional help for large groups, please call 800.741.7933 or email us at info@RYDEthere.com.

About RYDE

RYDE, based in Los Angeles, CA, is an innovative transportation services company that redefines the process by which passengers are transported to music festivals, religious events, sporting events, ski resorts, concerts, and conventions. Delivering a fun, convenient, affordable, and comfortable driving experience above the traffic and parking hassles, RYDE positively impacts the environment by taking 20-35 cars off the road for every bus run. For more information, go to www.RYDEthere.com.

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