National Center for Senior Transportation Grant Project

NCST site visit - Van Buren County Public Transit

This project is a collaborative effort in 6 counties with 8 public transit and 4 senior agencies involved. This project addresses a need for regionalization and better coordination between senior service agencies and public transit agencies to provide better service.  There is also a need to better understand older adult transportation needs and to determine which transportation services are most appropriate for and desired by the older adult population. 

The overall project goal is to provide safer, more reliable, more convenient, more flexible and affordable transportation to older adults in southwest Michigan (Berrien, Branch, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph and Van Buren Counties) in an environment of decreasing funding and increasing demand. 

The six counties will collaborate on three implementation strategies to improve the mobility of the older adult population:

1) purchase and implement a regionalized, web-based program in rural/small urban transit agencies in SW Michigan (up to 8 transit agencies) allowing for efficiencies, improvement in customer service and expansion of services.

2)  conduct a survey of the older adult populations in Van Buren and St. Joseph Counties to better understand how to best expand and diversify transit services to best meet the older adults changing and growing needs.  The survey results will be shared with the public transit agencies to improve services.

3) pilot a program in Branch County called Senior Connect, which allows seniors to travel on public transit with an escort/mentor at no additional cost.  The successes and challenges of this program will be shared with the other counties.

The 8 public transit agencies involved are:

Berrien Bus, Branch Area Transit Authority, Buchanan Dial-A-Ride, Cass County Public Transit, Kalamazoo Care-A-Van, St. Joseph, Twin Cities Dial A Ride (TCATA), and Van Buren Public Transit

The senior agencies involved include:

South Haven Area Senior Services, Branch County Commission on Aging, St. Joseph County Council on Aging, and Region IV Area Agency on Aging

View SWMPC's presentation on Technology and Coordination given in Washington DC in February 2009.

Branch County - Senior Connect Program

1.  Technology - An RFP was used to solicit proposals from different technology providers.  Dial-A-Ride Online was selected by the 8 public transit agencies because it was a web-based system and the price was very competitive.  For help with determining your technology needs, be sure to consult this publication - Guide for Acquiring Demand Responsive Transit Software and Technology.

2.  Senior Transportation Needs Assessment - South Haven Area Senior Services and Region IV Area Agency on Aging partnered to assess transportation needs of seniors in Van Buren County.  Three Senior Summits were held and a survey was mailed to randomly selected seniors in the county.  Here are some of the products from that effort:

Senior Summit Agenda, Senior Summit Flyer and Press Release

Summit Summary - Hartford, Summit Summary - Paw Paw, Summit Summary - South Haven

Mail Survey, Survey Responses and Survey Results

3.  Senior Connect Program - Branch County Commission on Aging and Branch Area Transit Authority are piloting a program which provides trips for seniors to get them used to riding Branch County's public transit buses.   An advisory council consisting of seniors plans the trips and accompanies the seniors on the trips.  

Senior Connect Post Card - Marketing Piece

Senior Connect Photos

4.  Other programs and marketing pieces developed to encourage older adults use public transit services.  These programs are a result of partnerships between public transit and senior service agencies.

South Haven Area Senior Services post card

South Haven Area Senior Services Trekker Club brochure

St. Joseph County Flyer#1 and Flyer #2

St. Joseph County Post Card

St. Joseph County Coupons

St. Joseph County 2009 fares

This project is funded by a grant from the National Center for Senior Transportation (NCST).  SWMPC's grant proposal was one of eight selected by NCST for funding.  The NCST is administered by Easter Seals Inc., in partnership with the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (n4a). Staff are located in the Washington, D.C., offices of Easter Seals and n4a. Additional team members are The National Association of State Units on Aging (NASUA), the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA), the American Society on Aging (ASA) and the Beverly Foundation. Also guiding NCST work is a national steering committee of experts in senior transportation issues.

Press Release on SWMPC Project