If you plan to celebrate the Fourth of July with alcohol, don’t forget to have a plan to get home safely.
Once again, the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) is offering people in the D.C. area (including Montgomery County) a free ride home (up to $15) between 4 p.m. Tuesday and 4 a.m. Wednesday through the ride share app Lyft.
WRAP’s SoberRide program has been providing free rides on holidays since 1991, and provided over 86,358 free rides since.
Their goal is to reduce impaired driving on holidays where drinking alcohol is part of the celebration, including Independence Day, Halloween, the December/January holiday season, Cinco de Mayo, and St. Patrick’s Day. More than one third of U.S. traffic deaths on Independence day involve drunk drivers according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
When SoberRide began, the program partnered with taxi cabs in the region and allowed people to call free or reduced rate taxis on a hotline number. Now, you can just use the Lyft app and simply input a promo code before hailing a ride as usual. That code provides the user up to $15 towards a ride home.
The promo code becomes available at 3 p.m. on Independence Day on the SoberRide website. Anyone 21 and older in the Washington, DC coverage area can take advantage of this opportunity while supplies last. Up to 1500 of the discounts will be available.
This July 4th, designate a sober driver or use WRAP’s #SoberRide! 🎆 https://t.co/6cAYMRuvp6 pic.twitter.com/qnuGjT3sa2
— WRAP.org (@WRAP_org) June 30, 2023
Metro Offers Free Rides July 4
Another option for getting home safely Tuesday is Metro. WMATA announced they will not charge for fares on Metrorail or Metrobus service after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4. The Metrorail fairgates will be open and riders will not need SmarTrip cards if using Metrorail after 5 p.m. Metrobus and Metro Access will also not charge fares after 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4.
Ride Metrobuses 🚌 and trains 🚇 for free this Fourth of July after 5 p.m. That's not all – we're also offering free MetroAccess and complimentary parking.
Avoid traffic, worry less, and revel more this July Fourth. Learn more: https://t.co/4lGqasWF8t #wmata 🎆 pic.twitter.com/00HV8MhGCj
— Metro Forward (@wmata) July 1, 2023
