Two Madison cab companies will be providing free rides to and from polling places for voters in Tuesday's election.

Union Cab and Badger Cab will provide rides while the polls are open, from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The cab companies ask those seeking a cab to the polls to make appointments ahead of time, and to not call after 7:30 p.m. in Madison or 7 p.m. in surrounding areas.

Besides Madison, cab rides will be available in Middleton, Monona, Shorewood, Maple Bluff, Fitchburg north of Lacy Road, the town of Madison and parts of the towns of Blooming Grove and Burke.

The rides were organized by Union Cab. It's the first time Union Cab has organized Election Day rides, although the company did provide rides organized by the nonpartisan Go Vote coalition in 2004.

"It's something our board of directors has wanted us to do for quite a while," said John McNamara, Union Cab's marketing manager.

Badger Cab has provided free Election Day rides in the past, teaming with the Madison Police Department to provide rides to polling places in 2000.

"There's a lot of people who have issues with transportation or no transportation," said Tom Royston, Badger Cab's general manager. "So this is a nice thing for us to be able to do."