FAQs

DANNY’S RIDE

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is the best way to contact Danny’s Ride?

Email: [email protected]; call 484-265-1411

Who are the drivers?

Danny’s Ride uses regular Lyft and Uber rideshare services. The drivers are not special drivers working for Danny’s Ride. They do not know they are driving for a program. Drivers only know they are picking someone up at location A and dropping them off at location B.

Who arranges the rides?

Recovery or other program staff set up the rides in our easy-to-use online portal. Riders do not arrange their own rides and they are not able to change ride details.

Danny’s Ride does not set up rides for riders. We provide the platform, the support, and the overall infrastructure to ensure that staff have every resource needed to successfully eliminate the barrier to transportation faced by those they serve.

Who can get a ride?

Danny’s Ride is available to support individuals in recovery with a substance use disorder, to help get them to the services and programs that support recovery.

If you’re in recovery with a substance use disorder, ask a staff member where you receive services if they’re involved with Danny’s Ride. If they are, they can set you up. If they’re not, encourage them to get in touch with us.

If you work with people who are in recovery with a substance use disorder and you’re not involved with Danny’s Ride yet, please reach out to us and we can explain next steps.

What are the rider requirements:

Riders must be 18 or older to ride alone. Riders under 18 need an adult to accompany them.

Riders must be able to get into and out of the Uber/Lyft car independently. If they need help, they need to bring someone with them to assist. Drivers do not help with this.

Riders need to be medically stable. Regular Lyft and Uber drivers are not expected or trained to provide care.

Riders who bring along a child who requires a car seat must provide the car seat and install it into the Lyft or Uber themselves.

What rides are possible:

Danny’s Ride is for those situations where there is no other reasonable way for clients to get where they need to go to get essential support on their recovery journey.

Rides can go wherever Lyft and Uber operate, but it is generally intended for shorter rides of 30 minutes or less. If you have a rider who needs a longer ride, please inquire in advance.

Rides can be used for outpatient treatment, MAT appointments, AA and NA meetings, legal system meetings, employment related rides and more. However, the purpose may vary by contract, so staff should check with us first to clarify what ride purposes are available for your organization’s riders.

How many rides can each rider take?

Typically, riders receive about 2 to 4 rides, during which time they are working with staff to identify other avenues to establishing transportation. If you have clients who need significantly more rides, please check in with us first so we can review the options.

Our recovery organization currently uses Danny’s Ride. How can I become registered so I can arrange rides for our clients?

Email Danny’s Ride and request a log-in. Be sure to obtain permission from your site supervisor. You’ll need that information when you email Danny’s Ride.

Our organization is registered with Danny’s Ride, and we have a client that needs a ride. What do I do?

Ask your supervisor to tell you who is authorized in your organization to request rides through Danny’s Ride. If you can’t find out that way, email us and we can help.

Our organization is currently NOT using Danny’s Ride. How do we become an authorized Danny’s Ride organization?

Get in touch with us so we can explore the opportunities!

Who pays for the rides? Are they free?

The average ride cost is about $25. In some cases, counties pay for rides for their contracted recovery partners; some organizations contract with us directly; and we get grant funding and donations that enable us to provide some rides for free.

Does Danny’s Ride offer any free rides?

Yes, we do! Thanks to our generous donors, we can offer limited free rides when there are no other funding sources available.

Staff who are interested in this option should reach out to us and request a short form. Once submitted and approved, you will be able to set up a pre-approved number of rides for the client you requested for.

Please plan on a two-day window to request free rides. The process is quick, but we are a skeletal crew and can’t always set it up ‘on demand.’ It won’t take you (the staff person) more than 10 minutes, start to finish, including setting up the ride. It’s easy!

Individual riders should check with the organizations where they get services to ask about the possibility of benefiting from a free ride.

How are rides set up?

Each participating organization identifies employees authorized to access Uber and Lyft through the Danny’s Ride portal. The authorized employees set up rides for their clients.

NOTE: Danny’s Ride DOES NOT set up individual rides for riders. All rides are set up through the organization the rider receives services from.

Who are the drivers, and how are they trained?

The drivers are people who drive for Uber and Lyft. Danny’s Ride does not select the drivers; they work for Uber and Lyft, not Danny’s Ride.

Do the Lyft and Uber drivers know they are picking up someone in recovery, or someone riding with Danny’s Ride?

They do not – to the drivers, this is a standard pick up and drop off request coming to them through their employer, Uber or Lyft.

Does the rider have any control over the ride details?

Not really. The person arranging the ride sets the pickup and drop off location, and this cannot be changed by the rider. The arranger also sets the date, and usually the time. If the specific time is not known, the ride can be set up as “will call,” allowing the rider to initiate the ride when they are ready. It must be on the date set up by the arranger, and will adhere only to the pickup and drop off points associated with the flexible request.

Can people use Danny’s Ride without a cell phone?

Yes, if they have a landline, they will receive an automated call with the driver/car information and estimated arrival time.

Alternatively, a friend/family member with a cell phone can be notified instead, or the counselor can be notified on the rider’s behalf.

What about riders whose primary language is other than English?

The text or auto message with driver/car and pick up time can be delivered in English and Spanish. The person arranging the ride sets this up.

What’s the contact information?

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 484-265-1411