Get free cab fare home in these 50+ cities/counties with Guaranteed Ride Home programs

If you commute to work any way other than driving solo-- if you take mass transit, bike, walk, or carpool-- then you should investigate if your local transit agency or your employer offers a Guaranteed Ride Home program that'll pay for taxi rides home if your usual arrangements fall through. And if you are a solo driver who's thinking about switching over but afraid of what'll happen in emergencies, well, you should read on too!

Guaranteed Ride Home (or Emergency Ride Home) programs are designed to get commuters off the road and onto public transit or another method of transportation, by helping assuage fears about how to get home in emergency circumstances. They are often sponsored by counties, cities, or transit agencies, but may also be sponsored by individual employers. If you enroll in such a program, then the sponsor will cover the costs of you getting home if unexpected circumstances interfere with your regular plans. Each program has its own rules, but typically "emergencies" are defined as unpredictable events like illness/injury of yourself or a family member, unscheduled overtime (verified by your employer), an emergency at your home (like a flood/break-in/fire/etc), or the early departure of your carpool driver. Covered events for bikers and walkers may also include severe weather.

If you register for the program, you'll qualify for a set number of trips home per year (often two to six.) If an emergency arises, typically you call the Guaranteed Ride Home coordinator and they'll call you a cab, although in some programs you can skip that step and just call the cab yourself (either filing for reimbursement later or using some sort of voucher.) Some programs cover the tip, some don't. They may also cover the costs of a stop at your child's school or daycare on the way home.

So without further ado, here are links to more than 50 Guaranteed Ride Home programs in more than 30 states across the U.S. (If yours isn't included, try searching for one anyway, since I certainly might have missed it.) There are also many employer-sponsored Guaranteed Ride Home programs, so you can check to see if your employer sponsors one (or advocate for it if they don't!)

AZ:
Tucson, AZ

CA:
Alameda County
Contra Costa County
Los Angeles County
Monterey County
Orange County
Riverside County
San Bernadino County
Ventura County
Sacramento
San Diego

CO:
Denver

DC:
Washington DC

DE:
Delaware

FL:
Broward County
Miami Dade County
Palm Beach County
Volusia County
Tampa Bay area

GA:
Atlanta

ID:
Boise

IL:
Madison County

IN:
Southeastern Indiana

IA:
Des Moines

KY:
Northern Kentucky
Northern Kentucky
Louisville

ME:
Maine

MD:
see DC

MI:
Southeast Michigan

MO:
Kansas City
St. Louis

MN:
Minneapolis/St Paul

MT:
Missoula

NV:
Southern Nevada

NH:
Upper Valley (New Hampshire and Vermont)

NM:
Albuquerque
Santa Fe

NY:
NYC

NC:
Charlotte
Durham County
Orange County
Wake County

OH:
Southwest Ohio
Central Ohio

OR:
Eugene/Springfield metropolitan area

PA:
Southeastern Pennsylvania

RI:Rhode Island

TN:
Anderson County
Blount County
Knox County
Loudon County
Jefferson County
Sevier County

TX:
Houston
Austin

VT:
Vermont

VA:
Frederick County
Middle Peninsula
Roanoke Valley
Charlottesville

WA:
Kitsap County

WI:
Washington County
Madison