Most of those who use the county’s general transportation program need to go to the store or medical appointments.
Allen County Clerk Sherrie Riebel last week gave commissioners an update on the transportation program, as the county is picking up more of the costs while waiting for a new van that is on back order. A grant that funds the program hasn’t yet paid its portion because of the new van’s status.
A large majority of riders use the service to buy groceries — a total of 1,044 such rides from when the program started in May 2021 until the end of the year. That breaks down to 879 rides to G&W Foods, Walmart and Dollar General, 45 to convenience stores and 120 to other stores.
The next most common need is to go to medical appointments, with 323 rides.
Many riders — 66 — need to visit government buildings.
Visits to restaurants and banks were also popular, with 63 and 58 rides, respectively.
A total of 42 riders were taken to their jobs.
Representatives of Thrive Allen County, which started the transportation program on the county’s behalf, have asked county commissioners to expand the program and extend hours so more people could use it to get to work. Local industries and health agencies were willing to contribute to the additional costs, but commissioners said they wanted to wait and see how useful the current program is before they would consider an expansion.
From May to December, 181 different individuals used the general transportation van. In January and February of this year, 76 people have used the program, and about 16 are regular riders who use the service at least two or three times a week.
Currently, transportation is available from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday. A schedule is available online at allencounty.org; go the bottom of the home page and click on the tab marked A-Z index and find “General Transportation.”
Commissioners last week approved a request from riders to modify the schedule. Previously, the van picked up riders two mornings a week on the east side of the county (Gas, LaHarpe and Moran) and two mornings a week at Humboldt.
Now, the van will stop in those areas one morning and one afternoon each week.
A GRANT from the Kansas Department of Transportation helps fund the program. That grant will provide a van, but the van did not arrive at the end of the year as expected. It’s on back order, and it’s not known when it may arrive.
Because of that, KDOT has not yet provided funding to the county.
That left commissioners in a bit of a quandary.
