Dial-A-Ride gets new wheels

MILLERTON — The North East Community Center (NECC) has acquired a new transit van for its Dial-A-Ride program.

Beginning in 2012, Dial-A-Ride was offered to address Dutchess County’s lack of public transportation in the area. The Dutchess County bus service, formerly known as the LOOP bus, was canceled in 2009 — leaving a noticeable void.

Dial-A-Ride was originally funded by the Foundation for Community Health and a grant through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which ended in June of 2016. Following the grant’s expiration, NECC replaced it with different funding, which now allows it to purchase its own bus, hire its own drivers and operate the program independently. 

As one of its regulations, the new grant prioritizes senior citizens and individuals with disabilities. According to NECC Executive Director Jenny Hansell, once the grant’s priorities are fulfilled, others can access the program.

Previously, NECC contracted for a county-owned and operated bus with the town of North East. With the new funding, it doesn’t need to do so. 

It does still work with the six municipalities it serves, including the North East/Millerton, Amenia/Wassaic, Pine Plains, Millbrook/Washington, Stanford and Dover. Each municipality contributes financially — even if only nominally — to the program.

Dial-A-Ride has provided a total of 2,840 rides to 96 individual clients between July 1, 2016 and March 31 of this year. 

Dial A Ride provides transportation to people needing to go shopping, go to the doctor’s office or just go to visit friends and family. Priority is given to medical appointments, which Hansell said benefits “not only the patient but friends and family members who do not have to take off work to drive their loved one to a doctor.”

In addition to providing transportation services, Dial-A-Ride staff often refer passengers to social services and NECC client advocates when more services are needed. 

Once, Hansell said, a driver even stopped on a trip so that a passenger could visit the grave of a loved one.

Hansell also remembered two elderly acquaintances of hers who became good friends after meeting on the bus. The bus, she said, sometimes drives the women to each others’ homes to visit.

According to NECC Administrative Director Jennie Poidomani, the new transit van was purchased a few weeks ago from West Herr Ford in Hamburg, N.Y., for an undisclosed amount, paid for with a grant. 

The van’s conversion was completed by Fenton Mobility in Jamestown, N.Y., and Travis Mobility Products in Pine Plains implemented the van’s wheelchair lift. The transit van’s welcoming design was created by artist Alanna Mulligan and fabricated by Anthony Silvia of Pine Plains. 

Looking into the future of Dial-A-Ride, Hansell said that NECC would like to extend the program’s services to evenings and weekends for passengers interested in taking night classes in the area. NECC also expressed an interest in adding another van to make the program more efficient and strategic.

Along with the volunteer-driven Care Car, which drives residents exclusively to medical appointments, NECC’s transportation program continues to be funded by the Foundation for Community Health, the Eastern Dutchess Rural Health Network, the Dutchess County Office for the Aging, Sisters of Charity and the towns served by the program.

For more information on the Dial A Ride program, call 518-789-4259, 518-592-1399 or email transportation@neccmillerton.org.