SHAWNEE, Okla — Transportation can be a barrier for some Oklahomans, but a new program is trying to fill that gap.

“It’s crucial, I mean, if you don’t make it to the job interview, you don’t get the job and then you can’t buy the groceries for your family,” said Sandy Vanderburg, executive director, United Way of Eastern Frontier Country.

United Way of Eastern Frontier Country has been awarded a Blue Impact grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma to expand its Ride United Transportation Access program.

This partnership with Lyft provides free rides to individuals facing transportation insecurity in Shawnee.

“19 percent of Pottawattamie County residents report walking or relying on rides from others for their primary form of transportation,” said Vanderburg.

Ride United launched October 1st and is already showing success.

“We’re just a few days in, but that first day we received a few dozen phone calls of people that were really interested in it. We’ve already done rides for the past couple of days that have been very successful,” said Vanderburg.

To qualify for the program, you must live in Shawnee, be at least 18 years old and have a mobile phone.

The rides are also only for essential needs, such as health, medical, employment, food, legal, education and economic stability.

“As of right now, we’re the first United Way to bring this to Oklahoma and so we’re really excited to hopefully pave the way for others once they’re able to see how successful it will be in our community,” said Vanderburg.

For now, the program is limited to Shawnee, but Vanderburg is hopeful it will eventually lead to all of Pottawattamie County.

To schedule a ride, you must do it 24 hours in advance, you can call or text (405) 835-6689 between 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. You can also fill out this online form.