Free and discounted rides home will be available in the D.C. area through New Year’s Eve, compliments of the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program.
WRAP will give Lyft app users in the area a $15 credit for rides taken home.
“The average fare for this program is less than $15. So it actually really does take the majority of people home. But let’s say your fare is $20 — we’re still going to pay for the first $15,” said WRAP President Kurt Erickson.
The program serves people of legal drinking age in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland; all of D.C., and Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties in Virginia, and all the individual cities and towns within them.
“On SoberRide.com, we will upload a code. You can simply download the Lyft app, if you haven’t already done that on your phone, and then enter the SoberRide code in the apps promo section,” Erickson said.
The New Year’s Eve code will be posted at 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 31. It’s good for use from 10 p.m. through 4 a.m. Jan. 1.
Until then, you can get $15 off one ride taken home in Lyft’s D.C. coverage area through 4 a.m. Friday, Dec. 30, by using the code DECEMBERSAFE22.
Thursday, Dec. 29, through Monday, Jan. 2, between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m. each day, Maryland residents calling a Lyft ride in the state are eligible to receive one $20 ride-share credit while supplies last, courtesy of the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration’s Highway Safety Office. The Lyft code for that credit is NYEMAKEAPLAN2023.
Meanwhile, Metro will stay open until 2 a.m. that night, and it’ll be free after 8 p.m.
The last time WRAP offered New Year’s Eve SoberRide in earnest in 2019, it was used by 921 people who otherwise might have been driving under the influence.
Since its inception in 1991, more than 83,000 people have taken advantage of the SoberRide program.
Erickson said Halloween was their second-busiest night, with 943 people using the program. That performance makes Erickson confident the local collection of Lyft drivers will be able to handle the demand on New Year’s Eve.
“But we would urge people to call ahead — meaning that when they’re ready to go or before they’re ready to go — go ahead and engage your app and try to get your driver as soon as you can,” he suggested.
It costs about $60,000 a year to host SoberRide.
“We would welcome support and people can make the donation right online,” Erickson said.
WRAP is 501(c)(3) charity; donations to help pay for the service and support the fight against drunk driving and underage drinking in the Washington Metropolitan area are fully deductible to the extent of the law.
