Free Lyft rides are returning for the Halloween weekend in Alexandria to encourage impaired drivers to avoid getting behind the wheel.
The nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) offers the free SoberRide program during high-risk holidays for drinking. The program will run from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 as well as Saturday, Oct. 31.
Residents 21 and older can enter the SoberRide code in the payment section of the Lyft app to receive the offer. That will provide a credit up to $15 for a ride. The codes will be posted at soberride.com at 9 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 31.
The program runs in Lyft’s coverage area, which includes the City of Alexandria. Other covered areas include all or parts of D.C.; Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William counties; cities of Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park; Montgomery and Prince George’s counties in Maryland; and cities of Bowie, College Park, District Heights, Gaithersburg, Glenarden, Greenbelt, Hyattsville, Laurel, Mount Rainier, New Carrollton, Rockville, Seat Pleasant and Takoma Park in Maryland.
WRAP cited National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data showing 29.2% of U.S. traffic fatalities in 2024 involved a drunk driver.
“Halloween is of particular concern for younger drivers as NHTSA data also shows that, between 2019 and 2024, 54-percent of 21 to 34-year-olds killed in U.S. traffic crashes during that period involved drunk drivers,” said Kurt Erickson, WRAP’s president.
Last year, 4,056 people in the D.C. region used WRAP’s SoberRide program during Halloween. WRAP has provided more than 100,000 safe rides home since 1991 and also runs on Super Bowl Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, Independence Day and the winter holidays through New Year’s.
WRAP has also been involved with Red Ribbon Week, a national drug prevention campaign, at Alexandria City Public Schools from Oct. 23 to 31.
