At Lyft, we believe it is our civic responsibility to make cities better places for everyone to live. Today we are proud to announce a new partnership designed to do just that in Oakland, a city near and dear to us. This $1 million initiative is a groundbreaking coming-together of government, business, and the nonprofit sector, with one singular goal: bringing more transportation options to communities that want and need them — particularly in East Oakland. We’re also excited that these options will include bikes and scooters, as Lyft becomes a multimodal transportation platform.

Our partners in this effort are Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, TransForm, East Oakland Collective, and The Scraper Bike Team, all of whom are incredible leaders and proven agents of positive change. Together, we will take three key actions:

1. Community-Driven Placemaking

TransForm will convene a network of East Oakland organizations to help guide a participatory design process for the creation of new parklets and future bike share stations in East Oakland. This creative, community-driven process will focus on how bike share stations can improve placemaking, build community ownership, and support local businesses.

2. Mobility4All Partnership

Lyft and TransForm will fund the East Oakland Collective to pilot a free ride program for underserved populations. Qualifying residents will have access to subsidized AC Transit passes, free Lyft rides and Lyft’s $5/month Community Pass for bikes and scooters.

3. Bike Library at the Shed

Lyft and TransForm will work with The Scraper Bike Team to establish a free, community-run bike lending library at The Shed. A portion of the bikes will be made available for monthly lending — including bikes that serve the needs of families with young children. We know that transportation is a major key to unlocking economic mobility. We also know that transportation has been inaccessible for far too many communities for far too long. But we have a unique opportunity to change the way these systems are built and to set a new standard for equity and inclusiveness.  

We are proud to seize that opportunity starting in Oakland. By working together to ensure everyone can share in reliable, safe and affordable transportation, we can make our cities even better places to live.

Photos: (1 and 2 ) City of Oakland/Amir Abdul-Shakur, (3) City of Oakland/Pamela Palma Photography