Lyft Expands All Access Grocery Program Nationwide
Lyft is expanding its All Access Grocery program across the nation and into Canada. The program, which was piloted in Atlanta and Washington, D.C., provides families with shared rides to local grocery stores for $2.50. The initiative is part of the San Francisco-based ride-share company’s City Works initiative.
“The Lyft Grocery Access Program is an innovative partnership that aligns with our mission to support strong children, strong families and strong communities,” said Tiffany Williams, chief programs officer at Martha's Table, a nonprofit organization that was involved in the Washington, D.C. pilot. “By offering discounted flat-rate rides to three full-service grocery stores and to Martha’s Table Market, the program has helped to reduce the time, transportation and financial barriers to healthy-food access.”
With the expansion, Lyft will partner with local organizations and nonprofits to provide low-income families and seniors living in food deserts with deeply discounted flat-fare rides to get to and from grocery stores. Affordable and reliable access to transportation can have a huge impact on food insecurity.
The cities that will be served by the program include Atlantic City, N.J.; Baltimore; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Detroit; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Richmond, Va.; and Ottawa and Toronto in Canada.
To launch in a new community, Lyft identifies one or more program implementors and, potentially, program funders, and then leads the instruction of trainers for implementing program partners and provides ongoing tech support. Lyft and/or the implementing partner identifies a program funder committed to subsidizing rides for participants (in some cases, Lyft will subsidize these rides), and the implementing partner selects program participants. Program participants complete an anonymous baseline, mid-program and post-program survey on their grocery-shopping habits, and they receive an agreed-on number of $2.50 shared flat-fare Lyft rides geo-fenced to select grocery stores.