Bus services aid seniors
Residents who play the lottery help guarantee senior citizens in Butler County have reliable transportation.
The Area Agency on Aging in Butler County last year received about $2.8 million in state lottery funding. A portion of that money — about $60,000 — goes to help subsidize bus fares for seniors through the Butler Area Rural Transit system.
The state Department of Transportation also allocated about $530,000 in lottery funds in the county for free and shared ride programs, including the Butler Transit Authority's bus service.
Janine Kennedy, the community action director for the county, said the BART system is popular among seniors.
“The majority of our riders are the elderly,” she said.
The BART system is a public transportation service, meaning anyone is able to ride the buses. However, the service is not cheap and primarily focuses on riders who qualify for subsidized fares.
“It's expensive,” Kennedy said of the service. “That's why about 98 percent of our trips are subsidized.”
The agency on aging subsidizes BART rides for residents over age 60. Individuals 60 to 64 can qualify for subsidies totaling 50 percent of the ride, while people over 65 are eligible for 85 percent of their fare to be paid for by agency.
Residents interested in the subsidies must fill out an application with the agency.
The agency will pay for 100 percent of some trips for some medical purposes.
The Butler Area Rural Transit bus service operates six days per week and runs more than a dozen wheelchair accessible buses.
The service averages about 300 trips per day. A trip is defined as from one destination to another, meaning returning home from a location would count as a second trip.
The community action office oversees the BART service and administers state and federal grants to the program.
The bus service itself is contracted to the Alliance for Nonprofit Development, a sister organization of the Center For Community Resources in Butler.Kennedy said there are 19 buses in the fleet, and 15 or 16 run on a given day.“It depends on the demand,” she said. “But we have a few extra in case one breaks down, or gets stuck in a driveway due to snow.”The buses will pick riders up at their homes across the county, but they don't do so without a prior appointment made by the rider.“It's demand responsive,” Kennedy said. “There is no fixed route. People must preregister.”Kennedy said riders are asked to register at least two days in advance of a trip.The cost of the trip depends on how far the bus is traveling and the age of the rider.The county is broken into nine zones for the service. Trips in a zone are $15. Crossing a zone bumps it up to $19 and crossing two zones is $23.Seniors over 65 with subsidies pay copays of $2.25, $2.85 and $3.45 per trip.Kennedy said the county also uses state and federal money to help maintain the buses, which are intended to be replaced every five years or 150,000 miles.“Every year we look at our inventory and select the oldest ones for replacement,” Kennedy said.John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority, said the authority's fixed bus routes are also senior friendly.“Once you turn 65 years old, you ride free for the rest of your life,” he said.Paul said seniors are given photo identification cards by the authority to use the service. They also are given a state transportation card that allows them to use public transportation services elsewhere, including Pittsburgh.Paul said seniors in Butler County can ride the Myers Coach bus from Butler to Pittsburgh for free, then can use the Port Authority's buses to get around the city.There are no restrictions on riding for free.“If you want to go down to the casino, you can get on a bus and get there for free,” Paul said.The biggest difference between the authority's service and the BART buses is the fixed route, Paul said.“The BART buses will pick you up at your door, whereas people need to get to a bus stop for our buses,” he said.About 2,800 of the authority's 15,000 riders in January were seniors, Paul said. The authority has had about 23,000 senior trips dating back to July, the beginning of the current fiscal year.Like the BART buses, Paul said the authority receives lottery money to help pay for its senior trips. However, the authority receives its lottery funding directly from PennDOT.For information on the Butler Rural Transit buses, call 724-282-6060.For information on the Butler Transit Authority's service, call 724-283-1783.
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