The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) was one of five State Highway Safety Offices to receive a grant from GHSA and ride-hailing company Lyft to prevent impaired driving during the 2020 holiday season. With its grant, in the final weeks of 2020, IDOT utilized $20,000 in Lyft ride credits exclusively in Sangamon and Macon counties – two of the largest downstate (outside of the Chicago metro area) counties in Illinois.
On November 24, 2020, IDOT and the Illinois State Police (ISP) distributed a news release announcing the project in Sangamon County that listed participating agencies and explained how people could obtain the free Lyft ride credits beginning the next day. On November 25, Sangamon County law enforcement agencies including ISP, the Springfield Police Department, the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, the Auburn Police Department, the Chatham Police Department, the Grandview Police Department, the Leland Grove Police Department, the Rochester Police Department and the Southern View Police Department all participated by actively sharing the ride credits on Twitter and Facebook. The first batch of Lyft ride codes that were made available were 500 codes worth $20 each that were valid from November 25 to January 1 and only worked between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. exclusively in Sangamon County.
On December 22, IDOT distributed a second news release announcing a second batch of 500 $20 Lyft ride credits. The ride credits were split evenly between Sangamon and Macon Counties. All Sangamon County law enforcement agencies who shared the first batch on Twitter and Facebook did so again with the second batch, with the inclusion of Macon County, the Decatur Police Department and the Macon County Sheriff’s Office.
At the conclusion of the program, over 350 ride credits were distributed.