Emergency Ride Home Pilot Program
The Emergency Ride Home Pilot Program provides a “safety net” for those who utilize SEPTA bus routes 110, 111, 114, or 117 to work at least two times per week.
In the event of an unexpected personal or family emergency or illness, unscheduled overtime, or if a rider cannot reach the site of the emergency via transit in a timely fashion, registered commuters can request a code for a free Uber ride home, to their car, or to the place of the emergency. Also, if a rider’s regular bus route is delayed for over 30 minutes or cancelled, and this will cause an unsafe situation or undue expense for the rider (e.g., late fees for daycare or missed medical appointment), ERH can be considered.
How does the Emergency Ride Home Pilot Program work?
- Commuters can check their eligibility and register with Share-A-Ride here.
- When their Share-A-Ride profile is completed, commuters are eligible to request a free ride (up to $50) due to a qualifying emergency situation.
- When an ERH ride is requested through the Share-A-Ride web or mobile app, the commuter will receive a unique code to use when paying through the Uber app and be on their way.
- Eligible and approved commuters must have or create an account with Uber to redeem the voucher code.
If you need assistance with downloading Uber and setting up an account, please visit Uber’s Guide Here.
Qualifying Reasons for requesting an Emergency Ride Home Code:
- For riders of SEPTA bus routes 110, 111, 114, or 117 only:
- Sickness or accident involving immediate family members (child, spouse, parent, etc.)
- Unscheduled overtime or late meeting (i.e., no advance warning) that prohibits use of your normal transit option
- Catastrophic unplanned emergency at home (fire, flood, collapse, etc.)
- Other unplanned personal emergency
- The rider’s regular bus route is running more than 30 minutes late or is cancelled
Participants may only use this service two (2) times in a calendar year, and may only be allotted up to $50 per ride or no more than $100 per year. To sign up for the program and receive a code, click here to register.
Special note to transit riders: Please note that in some instances, depending on the location of your work site and transit schedules, it may still be faster to get to the place of emergency via transit instead of using a ride share service. If schedules are not accommodating, please use the ERH service. ERH DOES NOT COVER TRANSIT DELAYS OR STOPPAGE DUE TO NATURAL DISASTERS, SEVERE WEATHER, OR CRASHES.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please directly contact 911.
This pilot program is funded by the Delaware Regional Planning Committee (DVRPC), they also offer a Share-A-Ride program, a free, online service that can match anyone who lives or works in southeastern Pennsylvania with ways to find alternatives to driving alone, including convenience transit services, potential carpool and vanpool groups, walking and bicycling options. Sign up for Share-A-Ride.
