A smarter, safer Via.
Safety is a shared responsibility.
Because of COVID-19, a safe ride means so much more than simply arriving at your destination without incident. At Via, we’re more focused than ever on safety to make certain that the next ride you take is as worry-free as possible.
For riders — How to travel safely.
While riding, please be mindful to protect yourself and others. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that our technology has your back, too.
What you can do to ride safely:
Keep your distance and protect yourself.
- Keeping your distance — not sitting too close to your driver or other passengers — wearing a mask or face covering, and using hand sanitizer can go a long way in staying healthy.
Reduce contact points and do your part to keep vehicles clean.
- Avoid touching more surfaces than you need to — use the automatic door feature in many vehicles, and don’t share anything with the driver or other riders.
- Don’t eat or drink inside the vehicle, it will allow you to keep your mask on and the vehicle clean.
Safe driving.
We are so grateful to our Driver Partners who have helped those who need to move around during this time do so safely. So it’s important we help protect you, too.
What you can do to keep safe:
Stay protected.
- Masks or cloth face coverings go a long way in keeping you healthy. In many markets, Via provides spare in-vehicle masks for Driver Partners or riders.
- Avoid unnecessary contact with passengers such as helping with luggage and handing out items in the vehicle.
- If you are feeling sick, or think you may have been exposed to COVID-19, please stay home!
Maintain social distance.
- Ask riders to keep a social distance by leaving an empty seat between each other, if possible.
- When possible, open vehicle doors automatically, and avoid having riders sit next to you — we want to keep you safe!
Keep your vehicle clean.
- To help maintain cleanliness and avoid the spread of the virus, frequently clean your vehicle with EPA-approved disinfectants. Pay close attention to those surfaces that you and riders touch most often.
- Don’t eat or drink in the vehicle, this will allow you to keep your mask on at all times.
What we’re doing to help protect you:
Introducing Wellness Checks.
- When logging into the Via Driver app, you’ll be prompted to confirm you are symptom-free and safe to drive.
- You must self-monitor for temperature and symptoms and stay home if you feel sick or if you know you’ve been exposed to COVID-19.
Distributing protective and cleaning supplies.
We want to be helpful and mindful in supporting you with the implementation of these new safety measures. So, while supplies last, we are:
- Making PPE available to you.
- Making vehicle cleaning supplies accessible to you.
How we are compensating drivers affected by COVID-19.
Via has introduced a compensation program for independent contractor Driver Partners who are directly affected by COVID-19. If a licensed medical professional orders you to self-quarantine due to a probable COVID-19 diagnosis or exposure, you may qualify for up to 14 days in compensation for lost earnings, with proper documentation. If you are an active Via Driver Partner and you test positive for COVID-19 or you are required to self-quarantine due to potential COVID-19 exposure, please notify Via immediately. You can upload any relevant documentation here.
For partners — Supporting your services.
We are committed to helping partners keep their services safe.
A safe service lies at the intersection of technological innovation, data analytics, and operational design — our areas of expertise. Should you need guidance on how to implement full-scale, tech-enabled safety measures for your community, we’re here to help.
We recommend reading through Via’s rider and driver safety recommendations for guidance on what you can implement in your service. Additionally here are a few steps on minimizing and managing exposure to COVID-19 within your network:
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Establish clear and simple guidelines, including a mechanism for riders and drivers to communicate with operators if they think someone might have presented symptoms or have been exposed during their trip.
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Clearly define how to escalate reports of a positive exposure. This should include procedures for disinfecting and taking the vehicle out of service, reporting to national and local authorities when required by law, notifying other riders or drivers that were exposed (in compliance with local Health Department guidance), and enabling contact tracing which can be done using Via’s technology.
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Communicate with drivers often to remind them of safety measures and offer sick pay policies for drivers who self-quarantine on doctor’s orders.
Combining technology and safety — a few examples:
Dynamic vehicle capacity management.
To avoid crowding in public transit and to ensure social distancing, Via’s technology can dynamically limit capacity in vehicles, allowing operators to efficiently manage how many people ride at the same time no matter the size of vehicle.
Sharing made smart.
Our advanced algorithm allows us to match specific riders and drivers based on location, accessibility needs, or to enable consistent assignment of individual riders with the same driver. Now more than ever, we can enable smart matching to minimize exposure and optimize riding conditions.
Enabling private vehicle networks.
Helping users reduce the number of people they interact with on their day-to-day can go a long way in protecting them. Through our technology you can group users to create exclusive sharing networks for colleagues or vulnerable populations.
For information about our COVID-19 plan in our California deployments, click here.