Vermont spends more on its transportation programs than any other rural state in the country, according to a recent state report.
But there are still large service gaps in many remote regions.
Susie Wyman, who lives in Londonderry, said it’s been a challenge getting her 91-year-old father to his appointments since he broke his hip this past winter.
On a recent cold morning, she was in a van that’s part of a free, on-call transportation program that is run by a local nonprofit organization. It serves ten small towns that are wedged into some pretty hilly terrain between Manchester, Ludlow and Springfield.
“It’s very hard to get him in a Subaru,” Wyman said. “He doesn’t seem to quite bend the way we want him to bend. So we’re blessed to have this van.”
There’s no regular bus service out here, and Wyman said the transportation option has been a game changer.
“You know, we’re not poor. I have a car. And I thought, you know, I should be doing this myself, not asking for a handout,” Wyman said. “And I told the girls that, and they were furious that I could even think of such a thing, of not taking the van, because that’s what it’s for. And I don’t know how I’ll ever repay them, because it’s wonderful, absolutely wonderful.”
The social service group Neighborhood Connections, which is based in Londonderry, runs the transportation service. Executive Director Nicole Wengerd said they did almost 1,500 rides last year — about three times the number of rides completed during their first year in service.
And that growth has forced Neighborhood Connections to seek more funding from the towns they serve.
They appeared at town meeting this year, and for the first time, asked for extra money to augment the state and federal grants, local contributions and appropriations from health care clinics that make up their $115,000 annual budget.
“It’s become so much more than just giving people rides. You know, it’s really grown from a ride to relationship building, to connecting to resources, to, you know, it’s just so much more than what we intended it to be.”Nicole Wengerd, Neighborhood Connections
Most of the rides are for medical appointments, but Wengerd said they also take people out for shopping trips, community meals and exercise classes.
“It’s become so much more than just giving people rides,” she said. “You know, it’s really grown from a ride to relationship building, to connecting to resources, to, you know, it’s just so much more than what we intended it to be.”
This microtransit program is independently run, and it’s not directly affiliated with the Vermont Agency of Transportation.
Ross MacDonald, who’s with VTrans, said programs like this are helping fill a need in rural parts of the state where it will never make sense to run a regular bus route.
“Microtransit isn’t a silver bullet for mobility needs in rural America. What it can be, I’m hoping, is an improvement to the current services we have. And where we can justify it, we could expand that microtransit service to everyone,” MacDonald said.
There are a handful of similar microtransit services around the state, and each one is run a little differently.
In the Mad River Valley, there’s a group that relies on volunteer drivers, and is completely independent from the state transportation system.
While in the Champlain Islands an organization runs a service through Green Mountain Transit, which is the state-designated public transit operator.
“Microtransit isn’t a silver bullet for mobility needs in rural America. What it can be, I’m hoping, is an improvement to the current services we have. And where we can justify it, we could expand that microtransit service to everyone."Ross MacDonald, Agency of Transportation
VTrans has been running its own microtransit pilot program over the past few years in five towns, including Windsor, Manchester and Morrisville, and it's adding a new service in Brattleboro this month.
And for the first time ever, VTrans is working from the ground floor up to get a microtransit program going in the Barre-Montpelier area with an independent group that’s running the operations.
If it works, MacDonald said, it could be a model for further expansion across the state.
“Generally speaking, we have covered most of the routes that would justify traditional, fixed-route service,“ MacDonald said. “So that’s why we are piloting microtransit, seeing if there are different ways to address mobility needs without putting in those hard fixed routes that may or not be reflective of the demand of the individual need.”
The Barre-Montpelier service, called Gopher, has never been tried before in Vermont.
Gopher does not use federal transportation funds to purchase its vehicles, like most other transportation services.
This means they can fundraise, contract out work with nearby school systems and take other creative steps without being tethered to strict federal guidelines, according to Executive Director Chris Cole.
“There is nothing … general public transportation in rural Vermont. If it’s not on a bus route, it doesn’t exist,” Cole said. “And so we’re trying to demonstrate a new service that’s general support, public transportation, good for anybody. We’ll take you where you need to go.”
Gopher is also embracing technology, using an Uber-like app for its riders, and building an all-electric fleet that serves Washington and northern Orange counties.
Cole said after about a year they’re pretty much breaking even, and he expects the business to grow as word gets out about their services.
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