On January 31st, the city of Manhattan Beach launched a 6 month pilot program for a free shuttle service in the downtown area. This program was brought in to alleviate the automotive congestion in the downtown area.Of the six electric carts, two were paid for by the city while the other four were paid for by local Manhattan Beach business. Carts bare advertisements from these businesses on the hood, trunk, and doors.The carts operate from first street in Manhattan Beach to El Porto, and from the beach to Pacific Ave forming a three square mile area of operation. Although these carts only operated in Manhattan Beach, the service is open to anyone with the Downtowner app.The Downtowner app works similar to several mobil ride sharing apps in that you set a pick up and drop off location and a car comes to pick you up. Each cart included two iPads with the app that had information about several bars, restaurants, and other points of interest around the city.Unlike several ride sharing apps, the drivers for downtowner, like Jaymes here, are unpaid by the app or the city. Instead they work solely for tips which a rider is encouraged to do electronically on the app after their ride.
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