Onondaga County announces Lyft as a transportation provider for its JOBSplus clients

SALINA, N.Y. — Onondaga County on Thursday announced a pilot program with Lyft as a transportation provider for its JOBSplus! clients.

San Francisco, California–based Lyft is a ride-sharing company that has drivers in the Syracuse and Central New York area.

JOBSplus will be working with three employers — Brophy Services Inc., Loretto, and Giovanni Food Co. Inc. — to start the pilot program, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said in discussing how the initiative works.

Officials announced the program at Brophy Services at 1972 Teall Ave. in the town of Salina

JOBSplus is a contractor of Onondaga County Department of Social Services – Economic Security (DSS-ES), per its website. JOBSplus serves individuals that have qualified for temporary assistance, or what people know as welfare,” Sarah Merrick, DSS-ES commissioner, said during the event.

“One of the biggest challenges for our small businesses … and for our folks who are really trying to develop a pathway out of poverty is transportation,” McMahon said in his remarks.

The employment opportunities are either on non-traditional hours or in locations where Centro does not have an existing bus route, he added.

“[Centro] does not work every hour,” said McMahon. “That’s an important gap that needs to be filled.”

How it works

JOBSplus coaches will work with eligible temporary-assistance clients to estimate the cost of Lyft routes from home to work and back, McMahon said in explaining the program.

If clients need to drop off their children at child care, that will also be included in the Lyft estimate, he added.

Then, based on the client’s verified work schedule, the Lyft administrator will request and schedule rides. Lyft will provide a ride quote and at the end of the month, the company will email JOBSplus an invoice for the actual cost of the ride for each participant.

“When someone is on public assistance, 100 percent of those costs are paid by the county. It’s already part of the temporary assistance budget,” said Merrick.

“It’s a new partner. It’s not a new cost,” McMahon noted, referring to the pilot program with Lyft.

Onondaga County is “starting small” with the pilot program, beginning with three employers.

“Hopefully over the next three months, we can employ about 50 temporary-assistance clients,” said Merrick. “The idea is to perfect a model that then can be expanded to other employers.”

Lyft’s ultimate objective is to provide the “world’s best transportation experience,” but that’s “not something that we can do alone,” Matt Rodriguez, Lyft’s general manager in the New York area, said in his remarks.

“This is why we have over 40 transit partnerships with government agencies [and] transportation agencies across the country,” said Rodriguez.

This pilot program is “the first of its kind” in New York, the Lyft manager added.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com