The UK’s leading black cab app, FREE NOW, together with Edinburgh’s taxi drivers is launching its “NHS Heroes” booking option to offer 50% off taxis for NHS workers in Edinburgh. The initiative aims to allow anyone working for the NHS to get to and from hospitals safely and quickly.
With cabbies being integral in keeping the city moving, FREE NOW has developed tech to specifically enable reduced prices for NHS workers with its new “NHS Heroes” booking option.
The initiative follows a survey of London black cab drivers that use the FREE NOW app, where an overwhelming 97% wanted to offer their support for NHS workers during this crisis. Following driver demand, the black cab app is now rolling this out to Edinburgh.
FREE NOW does not make any profit from these jobs and the company is also speaking to the Government to explore what more can be done to support NHS staff.
Vandana Prashar, Head of Operations at FREE NOW said: “As many public transport options are reduced to align with social distancing measures, our doctors, nurses and all NHS front line staff are reliant on alternative options to get to hospitals to help those in need.
“It is a testament to Edinburgh’s black cab drivers that they are willing to step up, even when their earnings are taking a hit in these uncertain times to help NHS staff.
“The divider screens between driver and passenger in black cabs help to limit human contact, they are also easy to clean, and all black cab drivers have unrivalled knowledge of the city helping to get NHS workers to and from work in as little time as possible.”
The NHS Heroes booking option is available in London, Oxford, Reading, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.
FREE NOW is also offering a similar service in Spain and looking at how this can be rolled out to the 10 countries it operates in across Europe.
The NHS heroes booking option is available for all NHS workers and will run in the FREE NOW app for the foreseeable future.
Anybody wishing to sponsor Black Cabs for NHS staff further can do so here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/freenow-nhsheroes?utm_term=QjxgaAng9