EVESHAM -- A program that allows residents to grab free Uber rides after a night on the town will be extended following two years and more than 5,000 safe rides.

Officials from Evesham, as well as Voorhees, which later joined the program, announced the renewal of Evesham Saving Lives Tuesday.

When the initiative launched two years ago, it used a bus and designated driver service to bring patrons home. But about a month in, the township partnered with Uber, becoming the first in the nation to offer free rides through the app.

"With DWI arrests, we found out we can't arrest our way out of this," Evesham Township Police Chief Christopher Chew said at a press conference Tuesday.

So instead, they opted to give residences an alternative way home, noting that many arrests had occurred when drivers attempted to go just a few miles between a bar and their home.

When users open the app, they see a tab marked "Evesham" on the bottom right corner. There, they can call rides to and from restaurants and bars in the Voorhees and Evesham to their homes within either township for free between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., any night of the week.

Evesham Mayor Randy Brown said the program has cost $10,000 to bring between 5,000 and 6,000 people home safely during its two-year duration. No tax dollars were spent.

The rides are funded by local donors, like Chickie's and Pete's and Evesham Mortgage, both of which donated money to the program's extension Tuesday.

The next move, Brown said, is to go out to all of the bars and restaurants in the township to educate employees and owners about the program, and help them to help their patrons get home safely.

In the first year the program ran, the number of Evesham residents arrested for drunk driving decreased by 50 percent, according to police. The township also saw a 15 percent overall decrease in all drunk driving arrests and a 16 percent decrease in alcohol-related car accidents.

In Voorhees, a similar trend has followed. Mayor Michael Mignogna and Chief Louis Bordi of the Vorhees Police Department say DWI arrests in their town have dropped by around 16 percent since they joined the program.

"The most important number is the one we can't quantify," Bordi said. And that's the number of lives saved by keeping intoxicated drivers off the streets.

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amahoover. Find NJ.com on Facebook.