A group of Obama-era public servants are the driving force behind a new initiative aimed at providing free Lyft rides to America’s underserved Black communities.
The rideshare startup announced on Tuesday it will provide more than 1.5 million free rides to more than 10 racial justice organizations over the next five years, through a national initiative called the Lyft Up Access Alliance. The San Francisco-based company will rely on community organizations to distribute the car, bike and scooter ride credits to individuals living in transit deserts, particularly Black Americans whose health and employment opportunities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move comes after the San Francisco-headquartered startup announced earlier this year it was expanding its Divvy bike program to additional neighborhoods on the city’s south and west sides.
“We feel we have an opportunity to help a lot of people, and now, more than ever, is the time to lean into that responsibility,” John Zimmer, Lyft co-founder and president, said during a Monday press call.
Zimmer said that, during this “moment of reflection and call to action on systemic racism,” the company aims to bridge the racial gap in access to transportation, which he called one of the largest contributors to upward income mobility in the United States.
He noted that transportation generally represents the second-largest expense for U.S. households, costing the average American 20 cents for every dollar earned. In U.S. metro areas, Black individuals face a commute that is twice as long as whites, and are more than three times as likely not to own a car. As the number of COVID-19 cases swells to a second wave across the U.S., Zimmer noted that state and local governments are now unable to pay to maintain their public transportation systems, leaving Black Americans stalled on their way to work, school, the doctor and elsewhere.
Anthony Foxx, who served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Barack Obama and is now Lyft’s chief policy officer, added that 40 percent of Lyft rides nationwide start or end in low-income areas. As the coronavirus persists, he said Black individuals continue to disproportionately struggle with unemployment, and face a lack job opportunities in their communities. In June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate was 15.6 percent nationwide. But in the south side of Chicago, Bronx, south Los Angeles, Foxx estimated the unemployment rate among Blacks was “more than double.”
“These neighborhoods, the formation of which are closely linked to this country’s history of segregation, are also transportation deserts,” Foxx said, noting that residents’ access to public transportation plays a critical role in their chances of obtaining a job.
In addition to providing free rides, Lyft will also dedicate the remainder of its $20,000 community grants this year to organizations supporting communities of color, said Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to Obama and a Lyft Up Access Alliance board member. She said the grant program has already supported 100 organizations that help Black people nationwide.
“We want this initiative to provide the black community with the means and mobility to not only survive this crisis but to be able to succeed in today’s world,” Jarrett said.
Lyft is partnering with My Brother’s Keeper Alliance in Chicago and the National Urban League, Black Women’s Roundtable, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, the National Action Network, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the United Negro College Fund, the NAACP, the U.S. Black Chamber of Commerce and the National Black Chamber of Commerce for its national effort.
