SOUTH BEND — A city program seeking to help workers who struggle with reliable transportation to and from work is moving forward in a pair of pilots using ride-share service Uber.
Spearheaded by the South Bend office of engagement and economic empowerment, which was established in January, the first-of-its-kind program is funded by a $100,000 grant awarded in February from the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge.
The first pilot began last week, funding Uber rides to and from work for eight Beacon Health System employees. Four participants received $100 Uber cards to use last week, and four others are using them this week. The city will receive data on late arrivals to work or missed shifts from participating employees, early indicators of turnover rates for an employer. The goal is to track the effect and reliability of the service.
This morning, the city’s board of works will hear the proposal to allocate $25,000 from the grant for the second pilot next month. That pilot will include 55 part-time employees in the city’s Venues Parks and Arts department.
“The real goal here is not to say we have this perfect solution that we’re going to implement,” said Genevieve Crum, the city’s project manager for the Bloomberg Mayors Challenge. “As we’re implementing these pilots, it’s really to learn from the experience and create something even better that meets (employees) needs.”
Antonius Northern, engagement specialist, has met individually with the employees from the first pilot and said their response has been positive.