Uber and Lyft are doing a rare team-up to offer "tens of
thousands" of free rides to veterans who need transportation to seek work,
according to a message from the White House. Uber pledged to donate 10,000
rides worth around $125,000, while Lyft told Techcrunch that it's giving away
"thousands of rides" in total. The White House pointed out that the
rides will be particularly beneficial to the estimated 50,000 homeless
veterans, two-thirds of whom don't have access to transportation. In addition,
Uber will today offer riders a chance to donate $5, which it'll use to offer
additional rides.
According to the "Joining Forces" program headed by the First
Lady and Vice-President Joe Biden, the PenFed Foundation will offer stopgap
funding to veterans who have lost their jobs and need emergency funding. Uber
is actually one of the largest employers of US military veterans thanks to its
UberMILITARY program, which has signed up 40,000 or so veterans as drivers.
According to stats from January, Uber has around 160,000 active driver, making
veterans a significant portion of that pool.
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