Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is starting a pilot program this month to provide ride-sharing trips to and from three of its station hubs. The program, which will serve the North Hollywood, El Monte and Artesia stations and operate for a year, is designed to provide travelers with a convenient option for the “last mile” of their trip. In other words, after taking public transportation to the approximate area of their destination, they can rideshare to the exact address. “Affordable, accessible and on-demand is how we have been describing it,” said Emma Huang, a principal transportation planner in the Office of Extraordinary Innovation at the authority, also known as Metro. Metro has contracted with Via Transportation Inc., a shared ride service currently operating in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York. A goal of the program is to open up the benefits of a transportation network company to a wider population as well as to increase ridership on Metro trains and buses. Right now, people who can get around on their own, have a credit card and smartphone can get a ride from such companies as Uber and Lyft, Huang said. “That is excluding a really large population,” she added. “From L.A. Metro’s perspective, we really wanted to push these companies to provide services to those who may need extra accommodations, such as they are in a wheelchair … (or) those who don’t have credit cards.” Passengers using the service can set up a ride using a Via app or, if they don’t have a smartphone, through a call center. Cost of a ride is $1.75 for those who register their TAP card number when setting up an account and $3.75 for those who don’t give the TAP number. Passengers signed up in Metro’s low-income fare program who use a TAP card number when registering can ride for free. “Even though we are asking individuals to input their TAP card number when they register for an account, they are not paying with their TAP card,” Huang said. “They are paying with a credit card or pre-paid debit card.” The shared rides are done within a 6-square-mile area of the North Hollywood Red and Orange Line station and must either originate or end there. The boundaries are Colfax Avenue on the west and east as far as Glenoaks Boulevard, with Verdugo Avenue on the south while Burbank Boulevard and Empire Avenue are on the north. “It cannot be from random location to random location,” said Brian Haas, a Metro communications manager. Local businesses will benefit from the new service by improving mobility for their employees and customers, Huang said. The pilot program is paid for in part with a $1.35 million federal grant.