Emergency Ride Home (ERH) is a commuting support service for UW employees who choose an alternative to driving alone to campus. It acts as a safety net to reassure those who use alternative modes that they won’t be stranded in an emergency.
Any employee who does not drive to work—including people who vanpool, carpool, bus, bike, walk, and/or use a park and ride—is eligible for ERH.
ERH is available from 6 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday.
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Appropriate Use
Appropriate requests for ERH:
- Employee gets sick while at work
- Employee’s family member becomes sick or injured while employee is at work
- A personal crisis occurs (e.g. death in the family, extensive property damage or loss, etc.)
Transportation Services reserves the right to review a request to determine emergency status. We have no control over the response time of a cab or fleet vehicle; customers should confirm these details when they request the service.
Inappropriate requests for ERH:
- Employee needs to run personal errands
- Employee needs transportation from events that are planned in advance, such as after-hours meetings
- A school cancellation/closing occurs (in most cases)
- Employee’s vehicle breaks down
- Employee has to work overtime
- In general, any situation of which there was prior knowledge
Restrictions
ERH can be used up to three times every six months.
Overuse/abuse of ERH may endanger this program, so Transportation Services will carefully review requests. We reserve the right to rule requests for rides inappropriate regardless of any prior judgments.
Related Resources
See the emergency ride home policy for full process details and restrictions.
How to Get an Emergency Ride Home
Transportation Services has partnered with Lyft ridesharing company to support the Emergency Ride Home program. You will need to set up an account with Lyft to use this option.
- Complete the ERH Lyft registration form
- A limited-use ride code will be available to you once you have submitted the registration form.
- Each code is valid for three uses within a six-month period.
- You must complete the registration form again after three code uses, at which point you will receive a new code.
- Use the ride code when you need an ERH. Do not pay for the ride; you will not be reimbursed. Any gratuity fee is the responsibility of the rider.
- If you requested the code a while ago and it does not work, it may have expired. Please resubmit the form to obtain a new code.
How to request a Lyft ride code
You must present an ERH voucher (PDF) to the cab driver in order to use the ERH service. We highly recommend printing out a voucher now and keeping it at your desk (or other easily accessible location). UW Transportation Services cannot refund cab fare paid by an employee directly.
- Complete the Emergency Ride Home Voucher (PDF)
- Request a Union Cab by calling (608) 242-2000 or order a Union Cab online; be sure to inform them you are requesting a UW Emergency Ride Home.
- Present a completed voucher to the cab driver at the time of the ride. Do not pay for the ride; you will not be reimbursed. Any gratuity fee is the responsibility of the rider.
Transportation Services reserves the right to review a request to determine emergency status. Ineligible requests for an emergency ride home will be denied, and the cab fare will be the user’s responsibility.