Lately, Uber has been positioning itself as the ultimate solution to the eternal challenge of shuttling people between transit hubs and their homes, also known as the “last mile challenge.” To that end, the ride-hail giant announced today that it struck a deal with the suburban town of Summit, New Jersey, to launch the state’s first subsidized commuter program.

Under the deal, Uber will offer free or extremely cheap rides to commuters who have struggled to find parking at Summit’s New Jersey Transit station. In exchange, the city, which is 30 miles from Manhattan, will subsidize the rides, paying Uber directly to cover the costs of the trips. The city says the deal will help free up nearly 100 parking spots at the transit station, as well as keep it from having to spend millions of dollars to build additional parking.

“As an alternative transportation option, ridesharing is not new,” said Summit Mayor Nora Radest in a statement. “But our program is the first of its kind in the United States to use ridesharing technology as a parking solution. Our innovation has the potential to shape how municipalities think about and implement parking options in the future.”

“to use ridesharing technology as a parking solution"

There are currently five parking lots around the Summit train station that are consistently over-crowded. The city hopes that cheap Uber rides can help limit the number of park-and-ride customers. To start out, 100 commuters who have purchased parking passes will be eligible for free Uber rides to and from the station, while others can opt-in for $2 trips each way. (Parking passes at the Summit station are $4-a-day.) The city of Summit will cover the difference. (A city official told BuzzFeed the deal will only cost the city around $167,000 a year, a far cry from the estimated $10 million it would take to build a new parking lot. It is unclear whether this figure includes lost revenue to the city from parking fees.)

The deal with Summit stands in stark contrast to the regulatory hurdles Uber has faced in other parts of New Jersey. Earlier this year, the ride-hail company threatened to vacate Newark if the city approved new rules to require drivers to pay annual licensing fees. Later, Newark’s city council voted to forbid ride-hailing companies from operating at one of Newark Liberty Airport’s terminals. Uber later struck a deal with the city to pay a $10 million fee to operate at the airport for the next 10 years.

The deal is similar to one Uber struck earlier this year with other towns to offer subsidized rides in the interest of alleviating the first mile / last mile challenge. Since last year, Uber has scored public transit agreements with San Francisco, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh, among other cities. Other towns, like Altamonte Springs, Florida, have gone a step further, totally replacing its public transportation with subsidized Uber rides.

Some have characterized this as an attempt by Uber to replace public buses. But while public buses are accessible to all residents, Uber is only available to people who own a smartphone and a credit card. Nonetheless, Uber has been praised by transit advocates for its potential to help bolster, rather than replace, trains and buses, as well as help reduce the demand for scare parking spots, as it’s doing in Summit.