RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $2.16 million contract with Uber Technologies Inc. to provide subsidized rides for Riverside County inmates who can't arrange or afford to pay for their own transportation after they're released from any of the county's four main detention facilities.
In a 5-0 vote without comment, the supervisors authorized the Riverside County Sheriff's Department to select Uber as the principal after- hours ride service for released inmates, utilizing its Uber for Business, or "U4B," online dashboard under an agreement that expires in February 2030.
The Riverside Inmate Destination Endeavor, or RIDE, program has been active for just over a decade and has largely relied on taxis to transport freed detainees from the Benoit Detention Center in Indio, Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, Robert Presley Jail in Riverside and Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.
"The county jail facilities are all within walking distance to several housing communities and business centers," according to a sheriff's statement posted to the agenda. "Residents living near these areas will benefit from the transportation effort, which is part of the county's ongoing commitment to provide released inmates with a safe ride home. The RIDE program ensures that released inmates are transported out of the local community to their residence, thereby reducing the risk of loitering and criminal activity."
In the last roughly two years, nearly 4,500 inmates have elected to use the voucher program offered by the county to obtain rides via Finish Line Transport taxi service from the correctional facilities to their domiciles, according to sheriff's officials.
Taxi vouchers have been provided by jail staff to indigent inmates when they are released from lockups outside normal operating hours for buses and other public transit providers. The vouchers have been redeemable by the operators for cash to pay for the holders' trips.
With the Uber contract, inmates will be able to request rides on the day of their release — or reserve a trip up to one month ahead of their scheduled release — enabling them to "efficiently request reliable, on-demand or scheduled rides," the proposal said.
The on-demand concept was circulated to 29 prospective vendors, of which only two responded, one of which was Uber, according to the sheriff's department.
"Uber was deemed the lowest, most responsive bidder, meeting the requirements for payment options and the scope of service requirements for correctional facilities transportation services," the agency stated.
Funding for the program will be drawn from the sheriff's annual operating budget.
RIDE was implemented in June 2014 as a pilot project conceived by then- Supervisor Jeff Stone.
Until the spring of 2022, the program was only available at the Byrd Detention Center. However, the board voted in 2023 to expand RIDE to the four detention facilities.
At the time RIDE was initiated, some residents and business owners in French Valley and Murrieta complained that inmates released at all hours of the night from the Byrd Detention Center were loitering near their properties, sometimes behaving aggressively and committing crimes, mostly vandalism and theft.
Inmates are generally set free with no bond requirement when the county's detention facilities exceed capacity. A 30-year-old federal court order mandates that the sheriff have a bed available for each detainee, or jailed offenders must be released to make room for incoming ones. Sheriff's correctional personnel make a determination as to who gets released on a case- by-case basis.
Sheriff Chad Bianco has told the board every year since he was elected in 2018 that all of the county's lockups are at max capacity all the time. His predecessor, Sheriff Stan Sniff, complained of the same burden.
