Busing, car/vanpooling, cycling, or walking to work is good for the air as well as your pocket book. But what do you do when an emergency comes up, you need to get home in a hurry, and you’re stuck at work without your car?

That’s where the Alamo Area Council of Governments’ CARE Program can really help out. If 1) you live and work in the 12-county AACOG region*; 2) you carpool or vanpool, take the bus, ride a bike, or walk to work an average of three times per week or more; and 3) you record your trips and keep your home, organization, and email address current on NuRide.com, you are eligible to participate.

Through NuRide.com, the CARE Program provides up to four rebate coupons per year (while supplies last) that you may request to receive reimbursement of up to $50 for cab fare home when an emergency occurs while you are at work. If you live more than 12 miles from where you work, you may choose to use your rebate coupon for a basic rental car charge instead of a cab fare, from a car rental service (such as Enterprise) that will pick you up at your place of employment. The up-to-$50 reimbursement does not cover tips, gasoline, or other charges that may be associated with taking a cab or renting a car.

The types of emergencies for which you may be reimbursed are:

• You have a personal or family illness or injury while you are at work
• You learn there’s a fire or break-in at your home while you are at work
• You are stranded at work due to your carpool/vanpool driver's illness or emergency
• Your supervisor is requiring that you work overtime on short notice

Some examples of trips that would NOT be considered reimbursable are:

• Your origin (beginning point) is not the address of your place of employment
• Your destination (ending point) is not your home, place you’ve left your car, or a medical facility
• You have left work to run personal errands or go to the airport for a scheduled trip
• You go to a meeting or a previously arranged appointment
• You experience a weather-related event such as a rain storm
• You experience transportation system delays
• The vehicle in which you’ve come to work or your bicycle has broken down
• Your building has closed (e.g., due to a power outage)
• You have chosen to work overtime
• You are fired from your job

Regularly record your trips by bus, car/vanpool, bicycle or walking at NuRide.com. Keep your home, work, and email information current. Once you have recorded your trips for at least one week, you will begin to see the CARE rebate offered among your NuRide reward listings.

When an emergency arises, call the cab company of your choice to arrange for a taxi. If it is related to your emergency, an intermediate stop (such as at a daycare or school to pick up a sick child) is allowed before going home or to where you’ve left your car. Make sure you get a receipt showing the cab company name, date, time, charges, and origin and destination addresses, and driver’s name or ID number.

If you live 12 or more miles from work, you may choose to rent a car to go home from an agency that will pick you up at work. If renting a car, make sure you get a receipt showing the rental car company, the address where you were picked up, the time and date of your car rental and return, and the basic charge for renting the vehicle. Please note that it may take more time to arrange to get a rental car since you will have to be picked up at work and taken to the rental location to fill out paperwork before receiving your rental car, and you will be required to return it to the rental agency within 24 hours with a full tank of gas (or pay the difference).

Within a few days after your emergency ride home, request a rebate coupon through the “My Rewards” section of NuRide (click on "Redeem Points.")  The coupon form should be sent to you within 24 hours.  Print out the form, fill in the blanks, and submit it to AACOG with the original receipt (be sure to keep a photocopy for your records). Forms must be dated and the envelope in which you send them must be postmarked within one week of your emergency ride home. Following positive verification that you have met the conditions mentioned above, AACOG will send you a rebate check for up to $50 per coupon.

AACOG’s CARE Program reserves the right to deny any and all requests if any of the above conditions are not met to our satisfaction. Neither AACOG, NuRide, nor any of the program sponsors are responsible for any personal injury, loss of income, consequential damages resulting from delays or absence of a cab or rental car, or termination of the program.

Please review the CARE Program Terms and Conditions and see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to the right for more detailed information.

The CARE program is administered by AACOG’s Commute Solutions Program, which is a Surface Transportation Metropolitan Mobility project funded by the Texas Department of Transportation. Other program sponsors include VIA Metropolitan Transit and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Care program C.A.R.E. Program Care program CARE Program
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*The AACOG region includes Atascosa, Bandera, Bexar, Comal, Frio, Gillespie, Guadalupe, Karnes, Kendall, Kerr, Medina, and Wilson Counties.