By CultureBanx Team
- Lyft’s ‘Grocery Access Program’ offers $2.50 rides to grocery stores
- There is a 92% black population in Washington D.C.’s Ward 7 and Ward 8
A major hurdle for people living in food deserts is transportation and Lyft (LYFT -1.49%) has taken the wheel to help steer towards a fix. The ride sharing giant is rolling out its Grocery Access Program an initiative that offers discounted rides to low-income residents to improve their access to healthy food options in Brooklyn, New York’s Brownsville neighborhood. Eligible families will receive discounted rides of $2.50 to and from multiple markets in the area.
Why This Matters: The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts. Previously, Lyft has teamed up with a nonprofit organization in Washington, D.C. to offer some families access to heavily discounted, shared Lyft rides to grocery stores. Through its partnership with Martha’s Table, Lyft’s ‘Grocery Access Program’ aims to cut the amount of time and effort spent shopping for food. That program was piloted from January to June of 2019, and up to 500 families were invited to try it.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 23.5 million Americans live in food deserts
In the case of D.C., 81% of residents living in Wards 7 and 8 dwell in a food desert, and will qualify for Lyft’s new program, according to the D.C. Policy Center. There is a 92% black population in both Ward 7 and Ward 8, where the median household income of $38,107 in Ward 7, is only slightly higher than that of families in Ward 8 of $35,025.
The Information reported in the first half of 2018, the ride-sharing company more than doubled revenue to $909 million, up 121% from the same time last year. Losses for the company went up to $373 million, during the same period but at a much slower rate. Unfortunately, it’s still a very long way off from it’s main competitor Uber, they generated $12.01 billion in gross bookings in Q2.
Situational Awareness: These string of social initiatives continue to elevate Lyft and set the company apart from its ride-sharing rival Uber. All of these social conscious initiatives could help the company have a better public perception now that it’s a publicly traded company.
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