Lyft Puts $1.5 Million Towards Increasing Transportation

May 2018 – The on-demand transportation company Lyft will donate $1.5 million to its Relief Rides program to make its ride service more accessible, for both emergency situations and for day-to-day convenience. These including existing initiatives such as Caritas of Austin and the Youth Empowerment Project which aim to assist people without homes, and help people get to medical appointments and job interviews, respectively. In March of this year, the Disability Rights Advocates group filed a class-action lawsuit against Lyft, “alleging the company discriminates against people who use wheelchairs by not making wheelchair-accessible cars available in the San Francisco Bay Area.” The company has partnered with many organizations around the nation in an attempt to address these criticisms. A statement by a Lyft spokesperson described the company’s continued drive towards increasing accessibility and ride availability, saying, “[Lyft] will expand these partnerships to support a diverse array of people, depending on the needs of each local community.” As a popular ride-sharing service, Lyft is used by millions of Americans every year, many of them with unique accessibility and transportation needs. Lyft and other ride-sharing services seem to continue their work on increasing inclusivity for all. 

[Source: Megan Dickey, TechCrunch]