August 7, 2020

Starting in the month of May 2020, EZ Ride, in conjunction with The Alliance for a Healthier Asbury Park, is using their New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI) grant to assist all Asbury Park residents in getting to doctor’s appointments and going for food shopping. As of this writing, subject to availability of funds, this free service will be provided until December 31, 2020.

The Ryde4Life program by EZ Ride uses the transportation services offered by Lyft and Uber and was designed to serve older adults to address their transportation challenges. Since last three years this program has been providing limited number of free rides to the seniors in Asbury Park.  However, due to the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic, it was expanded to serve all Asbury Park residents aged 18 and over to get to their doctor’s appointments or to go food shopping up to a distance of 15-miles.

The rides are available Monday – Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM based on the availability of Lyft and Uber vehicles. Riders must request the ride at least 24 hours in advance and need a working cell phone to connect them with the driver. At the time and day of their appointment, the resident is required to call again to activate their ride.

Doug Schultz, the Director of Social Services in Asbury Park, had several clients who needed to get to a specific clinic just outside the mile limit and reached out to EZ Ride to see if they could help. Because the need for the residents is so great at this time, EZ Ride worked with him and will continue to do so going forward.

“I would like to thank EZ-Ride for their willingness to accommodate our residents with transportation to medical facilities beyond the 15-mile limit to include two Substance Abuse treatment facilities. We are grateful and hope that we will be able to make use of this service during these challenging times,” said Doug Schultz.

EZ Ride hopes to provide trips to as many Asbury Park residents as possible, helping to keep them safe and healthy during these difficult and uncertain times. The expanded program was launched on May 4th, and we are pleased that it is helping many residents of Asbury Park.

For more information, please see the program flyer