Emergency Ride Home Program

Sustainable Commuters: You Can Get Home in Case of an Emergency

If you take a sustainable commute option to work, the Emergency Ride Home (ERH) program takes the fear of leaving your car behind and not being able to get home quickly in the event of an emergency. On any day you take a sustainable commute and experience an emergency, you will be eligible for a ride home using a taxi or Uber and Lyft. Our program covers the first $100 of your trip including tip.

To join the program:

Join the Ride Together Pierce trip calendar.
On the dashboard, click on "Rewards" and find the "Sign Up for ERH" form.
Read the program guidelines and opt into the program.
Log any or all of your sustainable trips on the trip calendar to be considered an eligible user.

Using the program:

Opting into the program will grant you three ERH credits visible under "Rewards."
On the day you need an ERH, navigate to "Rewards" on the trip calendar, and click on "Emergency Ride Home." Make sure your condition meets the program requirements and scroll to the bottom of the webpage to request a Lyft voucher or seek reimbursement. You will then be asked to complete a short form asking if you meet the minimum criteria to request a ride home from work. Once completed, you will receive a code to apply to your Lyft app and schedule your ride home. You also have the option to upload a receipt to be reimbursed for a ride already taken.

Program Guidelines

Approved Commute Options

Eligible users must have commuted to a worksite located in Pierce County from their primary residence or other pre-determined trip origin such as a transit center or Park and Ride, to their designated worksite listed in the trip calendar, by one of the following approved commute mode options: bus, train, carpool, vanpool, walk, bike or walk-on or bicycle-on ferry.

A user may receive an ERH from their designated worksite to eligible destinations, by requesting an ERH on the trip calendar website, which will require the user to fill out a short questionnaire ensuring they meet the following conditions:

Eligible Reasons for Using ERH

Non-Eligible Reasons for Using ERH

Unexpected personal or family illness.
Unexpected request by a supervisor to work late (that is, the request comes on that same day, without prior notice or knowledge).
Unexpected change in planned ride home (e.g., carpool driver had to leave early due to an emergency).

Pre-scheduled overtime, doctor appointments or other appointments.
Business related travel.
Working late with prior notice before the commute into work commences.
Trips to the hospital in place of ambulance service (in the event of user injury or illness).
Transportation to a doctor or hospital resulting from an on-the-job injury. Instead, refer to your employer’s procedures for worker’s compensation incidents. ERH transportation service is not meant to replace an employer’s legal responsibility under workers’ compensation regulations.
Transportation beyond the ferry terminal.
User layoff or termination.
Inclement weather.
Non-emergency side trips.
User has already met trip limits for the year.

Eligible Destinations

An eligible user may receive an ERH from the worksite to the following destinations:

To the user’s residence.
To the user’s personal vehicle (e.g., park & ride lot, daycare, carpool partner’s home).
To the user’s ferry terminal.
To a medical provider (not to replace an ambulance trip).
May add an intermediate stop if it meets the criteria set forth below.

Intermediate Stop

An eligible user may receive an ERH from the worksite to an intermediate stop and then on to an eligible destination only if it is directly related to the emergency and is arranged when reserving the ERH. An example of an intermediate stop would be the need to pick up a sick child at school before traveling to the eligible user’s home or the need to stop at an ATM to pay for the trip.

ERH Program Payment

Pierce County shall provide two methods for users to cover the metered fare amount of up to $100:

Provide a Lyft voucher code for $100, valid for the following 16 hours, or
Reimburse user after services are rendered. To receive reimbursement, the user needs to submit an ERH Reimbursement Request on the trip calendar within 30 days of the trip. The user's payment for ERH services will be for actual trip costs, payable at the time the trip is made. Users must submit a copy of the receipt with the Reimbursement Request form.

Users are responsible for any gratuities and any additional costs or surge pricing over the $100 per trip cap.

Number of ERH Trips per Eligible User

Eligible users may take three (3) Emergency Ride Home trips, limited to one-hundred dollars ($100) each, including gratuity, per calendar year, January 1 through December 31.

Program Abuse

Pierce County may ban any user from future use of the ERH program for program abuse as solely determined by Pierce County. Program abuse includes taking a trip for a Non-Eligible Reason listed above, or violations of the Eligible Reasons, Eligible Destinations, or Intermediate Stop provisions listed above. Pierce County shall provide written notification to the user listing the reason for the program ban.