Lyft, Baltimore extend low-cost rides to grocers

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Ride-share firm Lyft and Baltimore will extend a pilot program intended to expand certain city residents’ access to healthy food by offering affordable rides to grocery stores.

Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Baltimore Development Corp. President and CEO Colin Tarbert said Friday the program launched in November will now run through the end of August. Initially, the program was set to expire at the end of April, but the program’s been granted an extension because it compliments city efforts battling the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Quality grocery stores play an important role in building healthy communities and attracting additional investment. BDC has been working with our communities to continue to attract and retain grocery stores, and finding creative solutions to provide city residents without personal vehicles to access healthy food options and supporting our existing grocers,” Tarbert said in a statement.

About one in four residents, according to the city, live in what’s called a healthy food priority area. That designation is granted neighborhoods where the median household income is no more than 185% of the federal poverty level and 30% of households lack access to a motor vehicle.

Residents in select neighborhoods in west and south Baltimore are eligible for rides at a flat fee of $2.50 to participating grocers. By comparison, it costs $1.90 for a one-way trip ticket on a local bus and $4.40 for a full-day pass.

Eligible west Baltimore residents must live within the boundaries of West North Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, West Mulberry Street, West Franklin Street, Edmondson Avenue, and Hilton Parkway. South Baltimore residents must live within the Cherry Hill, Lakeland, or Westport neighborhoods.

To qualify residents must not have access to a motor vehicle and have to register online through Lyft.

Residents in west Baltimore can receive rides to nine grocery stores including Streets Market & Cafe, Eddie’s of Mt. Vernon, and Safeway in Charles Village. South Baltimore residents can take rides to six stores including ALDI in Arbutus,  Harris Teeter near Locust Point, and Price Rite in the Hollins Market area.

The coronavirus outbreak, according to the city, has made it more difficult for these residents to get to stores. That’s primarily attributed to changes in public transit as a result of the ongoing health crisis.

Baltimore just this week entered the first phase of re-opening, which allows more stores to open, and starts the process of returning services, like mass transit, to normal operations.

Since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Maryland the state Department of Health has confirmed about 60,600 cases of the disease. Health officials have recorded more than 7,000 cases of the disease in Baltimore, which has a population of roughly 600,000 residents.