The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a $2.16 million contract with Uber Technologies Inc. to provide rides for inmates who cannot arrange or afford transportation after being released from the county’s four main detention facilities. The Riverside Inmate Destination Endeavor (RIDE) program, active for over a decade, previously relied on taxis for this service.
The new contract will make Uber the principal after-hours ride service for released inmates, using its Uber for Business (U4B) online dashboard. This agreement is set to last until February 2030. According to a statement from the sheriff’s department, the program aims to provide a safe ride home for released inmates, reducing the risk of loitering and criminal activity in nearby communities.
In the past two years, nearly 4,500 inmates have used the county’s voucher program for taxi rides from the correctional facilities. With the Uber contract, inmates can request rides on the day of their release or reserve a trip up to one month in advance. The sheriff’s department noted that Uber was the most responsive bidder, meeting all requirements for payment options and service scope.
Funding for the RIDE program will come from the sheriff’s annual operating budget. The program was initially implemented in June 2014 as a pilot project and expanded to all four detention facilities in 2023. Sheriff Chad Bianco has consistently reported that the county’s jails operate at maximum capacity, necessitating the release of some inmates to comply with a federal court order requiring a bed for each detainee.
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