A new rideshare program is launching in the Pajaro Valley later this month that aims to help farmworkers and other low-income residents without a means of transportation get to medical appointments.
For fast-food worker Jason Brannon, 42, making it to health care appointments is hard. Due to chronic pain from nerve damage, he needs to travel from his home in Hollister to Monterey multiple times a week to see medical specialists. But without a car, he’s forced to rely on rideshare applications that he has found are often unreliable — drivers regularly cancel or show up late.
That was until he learned about a rideshare service called Green Raiteros. The initiative, which first launched in the Central Valley, seeks to address the challenges faced by low-income workers like Brannon by providing free rides to medical appointments in electric vehicles.
Launched by the Latino Equity, Advocacy and Policy (LEAP) Institute, a California organization focused on promoting economic and environmental justice in rural communities, the rideshare service has expanded to several counties, including Monterey, with service extending into south Santa Cruz County.
The program coordinates free rides in zero-emission vehicles for farmworkers by providing local communities with vehicles and drivers to operate them. The rideshare service is set to expand later this month to the Pajaro Valley with a fleet of four Teslas, two wheelchair-accessible vans and a mixed team of volunteer and paid drivers.
This story was originally reported for Lookout Santa Cruz. Read the full article here.