This time last year, the world was full of uncertainty. Much has changed since then and, despite the pandemic’s tragic toll, businesses and communities continue to band together to show support. But there is still work to be done to make sure all South African’s can share equally in the recovery.
Globally, Uber has committed 10 million free or discounted trips to make sure that transportation is not a barrier to getting the vaccine. Uber and Unesco also recently joined forces to provide one million free rides to vaccination sites for teachers around the world, including South Africa.
With South Africa moving into phase two of its vaccine rollout programme, nobody must miss their opportunity to get the vaccine because they don’t have access to transport. Uber, together with partners, can make this a reality and they are committed to working to help make it as easy as possible for anyone to get vaccinated if they want to by providing discounted trips to and from vaccination sites.
“There’s a lot of effort behind every vaccination. We’re grateful to essential workers and NGOs who are working tirelessly to ensure South Africa moves closer to overall recovery by getting vaccinated. We look forward to harnessing the power of the Uber platform to help connect South Africa with vaccines and are working closely with the government and other stakeholders to ensure we follow their vaccination roll-out plan and assist where possible.”
These efforts follow Uber’s Move What Matters initiatives that saw Uber partner with organisations around the world to offer free meals or rides to frontline workers, delivery of essential medicine to homebound patients and food parcels to those most vulnerable. This included a partnership with domestic violence organisations to provide 50,000 free rides, across the globe, to shelters and safe spaces.
The safety of our community is always a priority for us. During the pandemic, Uber has introduced new standards to ensure maximum safety while travelling. Passengers and drivers are asked to wear a mask during the ride. Both have the option to cancel their trip if the other party is not covered. To confirm that drivers are wearing a face shield, Uber introduced Face Cover Check technology, which only allows one to go online after a face mask has been verified. Users can also give their feedback about safety in the evaluation of the trip, by paying attention to aspects such as wearing a mask or face shield. This enables Uber to improve its standards by making everyone jointly responsible.
