For those overcoming homelessness, finding employment is only half the struggle - remaining employed often poses even more of a challenge, with reliable transportation to and from work being one of the biggest barriers. 

Starting in July, our team and Central City Concern’s Employment Access Center will begin partnering on a first-of-its-kind pilot program to ease some of this burden. The program, a part of our Lyft City Works initiative, will help those overcoming homelessness and starting new jobs by providing access to reliable transportation. 

We will provide 30 deeply subsidized flat-fare rides to and from participants’ job sites that they will be encouraged to use supplementally with the other forms of transportation CCC provides. The rides will be valid for the first, critical 90 days of the individual's employment. It’s our and CCC’s hope that by providing an additional source of reliable transportation, more participants will be able to stay in jobs longer. 

For now, Central City Concern will administer this program only for those in its Employment Access Center. Should this pilot prove successful, Lyft hopes to expand  this program to more Portlanders and beyond.

Our efforts to give underserved communities better access to safe, reliable transportation options comes as part of Lyft City Works, our commitment to deploy 1% of profits or $50 million every year (whichever is greater) to help make our cities more livable for everyone.

Through Lyft City Works, we’re focused on a variety of programs from providing access for underserved communities to groceries, jobs and more, to supercharging the growing civic movement in cities like Chicago by donating transportation to grassroots civic organizations, building transportation infrastructure in neighborhoods that need better connections to the rest of the city, and working with local groups to build toward a clean energy future.