Safe Ride Home

Portland, USA
About the city. Portland is well known for its assembly of pubs, microbreweries, wine bars, and taverns as well as many options for late nights.

Goal

The main goal is to offer reduced-cost rides home on public holidays to prevent people from driving under the influence of alcohol.

Implementation period. The first mention of the project dates back to 2017.

Fact

Approximately 24,000 people are arrested and 10,000 are convicted for drunk driving in Oregon annually. Oregon had about 170 alcohol-involved traffic crash fatalities annually – Multnomah County has one of the highest concentrations of these accidents (18 fatalities, based on a 10-year average from 1999-2008). Almost half of Portland’s traffic deaths from 2013 to 2017 involved alcohol impairment.

Solutions

Safe Ride Home is part of a program Vision Zero. Portland’s Vision Zero is a group of planes to move toward zero traffic deaths or serious injuries on Portland streets. The Safe Ride Home program provides discounts on taxis, Uber and Lyft ride, so drunk people can leave the driving to a safe and sober driver and pay less. Moreover, local law enforcement agencies have DUII patrols through the holiday weekend.

What discounts did partners offer last time?

• Taxi Rides. Up to $20 off per ride. Paper coupon must be presented to the driver. Valid for meter ride only. Gratuity is not included. Blue Taxi LLC, Broadway Cab, Flat Cab, New Rose City Cab, PDX Yellow Cab, Radio Cab, Union Cab, United Independent Cab.
• Lift Rides. Up to $5 off per ride. Promo code: STPATPDX2020
• Uber Rides. Up to $5 off per ride. Promo code: STPATPDX2020

Coupons are usually available in the following cafes, bars and restaurants in the city: Roadside Attraction, Ascendant Beer Company, 108 Bar N Grill, Barlow, Barrio, Belmont, Station, Bit House Saloon, Blackbird Pizza, Bluehour, Bullseye Pub, BUNK Sandwiches, Buranko Cafe + Bar, Calamity Jae’s and so on.

For each holiday, the offers and partners could be different.

Team

The partnership between the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), taxis, transportation network companies (like Lyft and Uber), the Portland Police Bureau and bar owners.

Timeline

In December 2019, PBOT’s Safe Ride Home helped around 3,300 Portlanders to get home safely during the holiday season. It is noteworthy that there were no fatal crashes related to impairment in Portland. Due to the spread of COVID-19, the program was suspended until the situation improved.

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