Baltimore Ride Share Project to Support Healthy Food Priority Areas: Baltimore City Health Department

This case study details the Baltimore Ride Share Project to Support Healthy Food Priority Areas, an innovative project being implemented by the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD) which aims to promote access to healthy food and support residents in making healthy decisions by providing transportation to and from supermarkets.

The program will connect Baltimore residents, who live within Healthy Food Priority Areas, with transportation services to and from supermarkets via a national ride share company that serves the greater Baltimore area will provide the transportation services. The ride share company will work with drivers who will provide transportation to residents to and from supermarkets. The company will also provide administrative support to the Baltimore Ride Share Project at no cost, coordinating and managing their drivers to provide the necessary services. To obtain transportation services, residents arrange a one-way or roundtrip ride to the supermarket by using the rideshare app or contacting a designated phone number for those who do not have a smartphone. The ride share company provides the transportation service to residents at a discounted rate.

BCHD is working with the community to inform this project with funding and support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation through the Public Health National Center for Innovations’ Public Health Innovations Implementation Grant Program.