May 31, 2007 - 10:33am — Robinbird
RightRides
I recently heard about this cool organization, RightRides, based in NYC. It was started in 2004 as a response to assaults on women walking home by themselves late at night.
The founders believed that by offering a free ride home, the risk of sexual assault would decrease. They got a cell phone to use as a dispatch phone, printed flyers and started driving riders home. They were able to get others to volunteer to help operate the service.
Eventually the organziation became a 501(c)3 (citizen organization) and partnered with Zipcar to expand the RightRides service. By late 2006, RightRides drove nearly 600 riders safely home, in 19 NYC neighborhoods – a 300% expansion from 2004-2005.
If you want to know more about them, there website is www.rightrides.org.