The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (TCRPC) will launch a pilot program called Sober Ride Home, which will provide free rideshare alternatives to people who have consumed alcohol at local bars and restaurants. The program aims to reduce the number of DUI-related crashes and fatalities and to improve road safety.

An effort of the Harrisburg Area Transportation Study (HATS), Sober Ride Home is made possible through a grant from the Federal Highway Administration and the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. According to TCRPC executive director Steve Deck, the demonstration project will partner with Commute PA and other stakeholders like Uber to offer on-demand rides during peak times. Deck said Sober Ride Home will provide free rides based on mapping and data developed through HATS' SS4A effort to identify locations and timeframes in the community that have seen the highest DUI figures.

Sober Ride Home will conduct an advertising campaign and collaborate with local bars and restaurants to encourage patrons not to drive under the influence, Deck explained. It will also educate servers on how impaired patrons can secure a free ride home.

Deck said TCRPC will make the yearlong program available this summer and hopes to implement it long-term.

HATS is the federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) for Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties. It is administered by TCRPC, which provides land use and transportation planning for the Harrisburg-Carlisle metropolitan area's 103 municipalities and nearly 600,000 residents. To learn more about TCRPC, visit http://www.tcrpc-pa.org.