Metro’s loss is rideshares’ gain

Ridesharing service Via has expanded its business to D.C. (photo: Via)

Two ridesharing services are widening their coverage areas to include a pair of burgeoning D.C. neighborhoods.

Split, the local ride-splitting company that offers $3 trips to downtown and elsewhere, is adding Ivy City to the list of neighborhoods its serves. With the addition of the Northeast Washington neighborhood, tucked between Brentwood and the National Arboretum, Split’s coverage area grows by 5 percent to 24 square miles, the company says. Unlike Uber and Lyft, pooled rides are the default on Split, where passengers head to pickup points (usually within a block) and take shared trips in the same direction.

Split already serves Columbia Heights, NoMa, Capitol Hill, Navy Yard, Foggy Bottom and much of Upper Northwest.

“This development is part of Split’s continued response to growing demand from riders all across the city,” the company said in a news release.

Another ridesharing service, Via, expanded into Columbia Heights this week.

The neighborhood was “highly requested” by riders since the app’s D.C. launch earlier this summer, the company said in a news release. Via, based in New York, has about 200 drivers in the District. Initially, much of its service was limited to a corridor along Metro’s Red Line, from Cleveland Park to NoMa, as part of a strategic move to attract riders during a Red Line SafeTrack surge.

As part of a promotional launch, the company is offering $2.15 rides anywhere in its coverage area — for a limited time. The only downside: the service only operates on weekdays and during certain windows —  7 to 10 a.m. and 4 to 9 p.m. Via’s coverage area extends from Cleveland Park to Mt. Pleasant and Columbia Heights, to NoMa and the National Mall.

The company’s updated coverage map can be seen below: