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VetsRide — Free On-Demand Rides Across the District

The District runs VetsRide: free on-demand shared rides for DC-resident veterans, operated by the Department of For-Hire Vehicles with the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs. It runs seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., for trips to education, health, employment, food distribution and housing. The underlying statute, D.C. Code §49-1003, guarantees a floor of at least 15 one-way trips a month.

Verified August 25, 2026

What this benefit is

The District runs VetsRide: free on-demand shared rides for DC-resident veterans, operated by the Department of For-Hire Vehicles with the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs. It runs seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., for trips to education, health, employment, food distribution and housing. The underlying statute, D.C. Code §49-1003, guarantees a floor of at least 15 one-way trips a month.

What it's worth: Free on-demand rides, seven days a week, 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

  • VetsRide is the operating programme. It is open to DC-resident veterans with annual income below $45,000, or who are recently unemployed.
  • The service runs seven days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., which is more than the six days the statute requires as a minimum.
  • Trips are for education, health, employment, food distribution and housing purposes.
  • D.C. Code §49-1003 sets the statutory floor: an income gate at or below 80% of area median income, at least 15 one-way trips a month per eligible veteran, and six-day operation. The published programme is more generous on hours and states its own income figure.
  • Trips must begin and end within the District, but there is no restriction on the origin or destination points inside it — so this is not limited to medical appointments.
  • The statutory duty is expressly subject to the availability of funding.

Who is entitled to it

  • The provision runs to veterans who live in the District.
  • Your home is in the District.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

  1. 1Register through the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs on (202) 724-4010. Registration is separate from booking.
  2. 2Book a ride on (202) 398-0500, seven days a week between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
  3. 3Have your income figure ready: the published gate is an annual income below $45,000, or recent unemployment.
  4. 4Trips must begin and end inside the District, and cover education, health, employment, food distribution and housing.
  5. 5The statutory floor is at least 15 one-way trips a month per eligible veteran. If you are offered fewer, that is the figure to cite.
File with
Register with the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs, then book with VetsRide
Documents you will need
dd214
No renewal
Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingFifteen trips a month is a floor, not a cap. The statute says at minimum, so the operating programme may offer more.
Worth knowingThe trips are not restricted by purpose. Because the statute limits only where a trip starts and ends, a ride to a shop or a family visit is inside the wording as much as a ride to a clinic.
Known gapThe office’s own pages do not describe this programme. Its published services are claims assistance, the disabled veterans homestead deduction and outreach, so the transport duty appears in the statute without a matching programme page — which is why the funding qualifier matters and why this record carries tier B rather than A.
Known gapNo emergency financial assistance fund run by the District itself was found this session. The office’s published services do not include one, and the statute creates no relief fund.

Sources

This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.