VALPARAISO | An additional bus and longer hours have resulted in about a 40 percent increase in ridership for the Porter County Aging and Community Services dial-a-ride service.
PCACS Executive Director Bruce Lindner said the service had about 8,600 riders for the first six months of 2009, and that has jumped to about 12,000 through June of this year. The agency got a federal grant to start the added service Jan. 1, but Lindner said it was the third or fourth week of January before it was up and running.
"The encouraging thing is that each month the numbers go up," he said. "As people find out we are out there late at night, they are taking advantage of the service."
The service had been running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays but now is available from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the service has seven buses instead of six. Despite the additional bus, Lindner said the service, which delivers people anywhere in the county and to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart, is nearing the limit of the number of riders it can handle.
"We're at about 170 rides a day, so we are maxed out."
The federal New Freedoms grant of $80,000 paid half the cost of the expanded service. The required local matching amount came from the Porter County commissioners ($40,000), the Northwest Indiana Regional Bus Authority ($20,000) and from PCACS funds. Lindner said he is asking each source for another year of funding, and he would like to get another grant to add another bus or two.
"When we asked the commissioners for funds last fall, we told them we expected to be at 24,000 or 25,000 riders this year, and it seems like we will be at that. Transportation is a subsidized operation, but if we got another New Freedoms grant, we could easily put two buses on."
He said a study done for the RBA four years ago estimated Porter County would need 18 buses to meet demand. Most of the riders are disabled, elderly or the working poor. Although a $1 fare is sought, disabled riders don't have to pay. Lindner said the service has had 8,000 disabled riders this year.
"Two more buses will not solve the total problem, but each bus we get out there is important, especially in a recession. We've got seniors who depend on us to get back and forth to the grocery store or they are without food for several days."
To request a ride, residents have to call at least 24 hours in advance to (219) 462-4302. PCACS also can accept donations to support the service by calling the agency or going to its website at www.portercountyacs.org.
