Ride hailing companies Uber and Lyft have responded to a call from the White House and have committed to providing free rides to veterans. The announcement comes before Veterans Day, it addresses transportation problems that former military men and women face when trying to go to jobs and interviews. The call was made under Joining Forces, an initiative launched by the First Lady and Dr. Biden that challenges people across the country to ask themselves one simple question: “What can I do to honor veterans and military families who have given us so much?”
Uber and Lyft have stepped up to address this problem, they have both committed to donate free rides to veterans, the free rides will be administered by the employment counselors who work with the veterans every week.
“It is remarkable to see competitors come together to support our veterans,” writes Colonel Nicole Malachowski, executive director of the Joining Forces initiative, on the official White House blog. Uber has committed to donate 10,000 rides distributed across five veteran organizations that are affiliated with the United States Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program. It’s unclear how many rides Lyft is donating for this cause.
Uber is also going to allow riders and drivers in 150 cities across the United States to donate $5 on November 11th, the donation will go towards a ride for a veteran, they just need to slide over to the option named “VET’S DAY” to make this small donation.