It’s free ride versus free ride.

In London’s taxi wars, the voters win — if only for one day.

Both traditional taxis and ride-sharing giant Uber, locked in a battle for London market share since the summer, are offering free rides to and from polling stations in Monday’s federal election.

“One of the reasons why our drivers want to do this is that many of them have come from countries where they don’t have the opportunity to vote freely,” said Roger Caranci, who speaks for the London Taxi Association, made up of four taxi companies.

“They respect Canadians can vote and they want to give back.”

All four taxi companies will drive Londoners to the polls between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., then back home, Caranci said.

Meanwhile, new Uber users can get free rides up to $15 each way to and from the polls, if they enter a promo code.

The charm offensive by the duelling passenger carriers might curry favour and goodwill, but consider this — Elections Canada has made most polling stations steps from voters’ homes, to make voting as painless as possible.

Still, a free ride Monday is a way to chat to a taxi driver about the beauty of democracy, or a chance to try out Uber for free.

“Voting on election day is a big decision. We want you to think about what’s important to you — not how you’re going to get to and from the polls,” the Uber announcement says.

Uber, which passengers can hail and pay only by using a cmobile app, is offering free rides to new customers in every Canadian city it operates in. The company made the announcement Oct. 13.

In London, the Taxi Association announced its free ride offer nearly a month earlier, on Sept. 16.

The taxi announcement was made when its association held a large protest against the ride-sharing giant Uber that’s eating into business.

“We want to thank our loyal customers, and customers that may not have used us before,” Caranci said.

“Members of the London Taxi Association feel very strongly in seeing as many Canadians take part in the democratic process as possible and are taking an active role in helping make this happen.”

Rides are free whether the taxi is booked online or by calling one of the four companies, he added.

Uber’s arrival in London has been the most contentious issue the new city council elected last fall has faced so far. The traditional taxi industry is up in arms and Uber is operating in defiance of the city’s bylaw that tightly regulates the conventional industry.

Council recently voted to have staff study possibly creating a new taxi bylaw category to regulate e-hail apps like Uber. A report back is expected early next year.

Uber aruges it’s a techology firm, not a cab company, whose app matches people needing rides with drivers who use their personal vehicles to drive them for a fee.

In Canada, each riding has between 184 and 220 polling stations. Each polling station serves about 350 voters. There could be up to five polling stations in each polling site.

kate.dubinski@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/KateatLFPress

CATCH A FREE VOTING-DAY RIDE

Taxis (between 10 a.m. an 2 p.m.)

Yellow London Taxi: 519-657-1111

Blue and White Taxi: 519-432-2222

U-Need-A Taxi: 519-438-2121

London Green Taxi: 519-777-8888

Uber (new users only, up to $15 each way free): Go to get.uber.com and use the promo code CanadaVOTES, then download the app