This transportation program helps veterans get around the District
Veterans can use VetsRide to get to medical appointments at places like the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda. Image by Susan Melkisethian licensed under Creative Commons.
From the DC Circulator to Metrorail, DC has a lot of transportation options. But the District also has a number of lesser-known specialized transportation services that help specific groups get around. One of those is VetsRide, a free transportation service for veterans to get around DC.
For many veterans, navigating the city can be challenging. Some may require special transportation services to help them get to employment, education, health care-related social services throughout the District. To meet this need the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs and DC’s Department of For-Hire Vehicles (DFHV) teamed up in 2019 to offer VetsRide.
“Transportation is needed for our Veterans to be successful in their path to self sufficiency,” said Clifton Lewis, executive director for US VETS Washington DC, an organization that helps veterans find housing, job placements, and other outreach services.
VetsRide provides free transportation from 6 am to 10 pm daily for veterans making less than $45,000 per year, or those recently unemployed. The program, which uses rideshare vouchers, also allows for transport to locations outside DC for specialized care, like Walter Reed in Bethesda, or medical centers in Bowie or Laurel, said Rich Strauss, a spokesman for the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs.
While the majority of his clients use mass transportation, Lewis said some do need other forms of transport like rideshare.
“Rideshare is extremely important because it is the vehicle in a lot of cases for our Veterans to move around town for job interviews, housing searches, VA medical appointments, visiting family and friends and to visit places of entertainment or leisure,” Lewis said via email.
MOVA connects with veterans through the agency’s newsletter, social media, and word of mouth through community partners, according to Strauss. The agency then determines eligibility and registers candidates for the service.
Once accepted, vets receive 16 vouchers per month that can be used for rideshare vehicles and dispatch services. Transco, a cab and transportation company, contracts out rideshare drivers to provide this service.
Lewis said the veterans his organization services use VetsRide in addition to mass transit and a company vehicle to get to appointments.
During the beginning of the pandemic in April 2020, the number of vouchers VetsRide offers to vets increased from four to 10 a month, and eligibility expanded to include vets who found themselves recently unemployed. By Jan. 2022 MOVA increased the number of vouchers again to 16 per month.
Since the program’s inception in 2019, VetsRide has served 719 veterans, providing over 8,000 rides, according to a DFHV spokesperson. In February the program saw 557 rides, the highest monthly number of rides, since the program started — it’s not clear why demand has risen.
If you’re a veteran looking for more information or to book a ride, you can call (202) 398-0500.