Dial-a-Ride Funding May Come to a Screeching Halt

Hi, Acton and Boxborough friends,

Do you have friends who use the MinuteVan or hope to use it to get around town? If so, can you please forward this to them and ask if they can come out to the School Committee meeting tonight. When I talk to the School Committee about the Dial-a-Ride at the meeting, it would be very helpful to have a crowd of users and supporters in the room.

The meeting is Tues. Aug. 2 at 7:30 at RJ Grey Jr. High library, but because MinuteVan is late on the agenda, it is safe to arrive as late as 8:30 pm.

Because MinuteVan Dial-a-Ride was not funded for Year 2 (due to changes in the Clean Air and Mobility program that resulted in much more competition for fewer funds) Dial-a-Ride service may end at the end of the summer. We thought we had a three year startup period before we reached this point of sink or swim, but here we are in an uncertain time before even this one successful year is over.

There are now 157 individual people who have ridden MinuteVan Dial-a-Ride, and June and July have been the busiest months so far. 268 rides were provided in June. People have been very appreciative of this way of getting around, particularly people who don't drive, such as parents without an extra car or those who have a disability that prevents them from driving, and youth who need to get places while their parents are at work. Michele Brooks, Acton's Transportation Coordinator, writes:

As we approach the end of our first year we have seen ridership consistently building as more people have become aware of the service. We have a broad cross-section of users but have recently seen a large increase in students aged 12-18. These students are visiting the library, going to swim lessons, the Discovery Museum, summer camp programs, summer school, and summer jobs. Just at the end of the school year we had the opportunity to begin getting the word out and are now seeing the results of that effort in more students taking advantage of the MinuteVan. If we are able to find funding to continue the service, we are poised to do more outreach to the student community with the results of our tagline contest and more marketing and promotion. During the school year we would expect students to be able to use the van to get to after school activities, music lessons, and part-time jobs. 
 
Tuesday, August 2, the School Committee is considering a plan to help fund the Dial-a-Ride for three months to help us avoid any break in service while we continue to hone in on the most efficient, collaborative transportation plan for our area. We have many transportation collaboration fires burning and creative efforts underway to make this work, but we need help with the funding gap now.