Portlanders In Food Deserts Can Soon Take a Lyft to the Grocery Store For the Same Price as a Bus Ticket

Lyft will subsidize up to $15 per fare.

Apples at grocery store. (WW staff)
By Elise Herron

Getting groceries isn't an easy task for everyone in Portland. At least six neighborhoods—Argay, Wilkes, Powellhurst-Gilbert, Pleasant Valley, Centennial and Wilkes—have been identified as food deserts, or low-income areas where residents must travel over a mile to get groceries.

To help bridge gaps, the Oregon Food Bank has partnered with Lyft to give people who live in food deserts a car ride to the grocery store for the price of a bus ticket.

"This is an innovative solution for increasing access to healthy, fresh foods, Oregon Food Bank CEO, Susannah Morgan, said in a statement. "Not only does the Grocery Access Program directly connect people to fresh, nutritious foods, but it underscores the power of partnership to solve community challenges."

The program starts July 1 and runs through Dec. 31 2019. People who are eligible will get $2.50 rides to or from nearby supermarkets or other food stores. Lyft will subsidize up to $15 per fare.

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