Public Transportation Coordination
Types of Public Transit
Transportation services vary for each community. Some options include:
Public Transportation
Fixed Route
(Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, and Missoula)
Public transportation service provided in vehicles operated along predetermined routes according to a fixed schedule. Service routes: are close to housing, health facilities, shopping, and other common destinations.
Fixed-route transit includes services on accessible buses
- Buses that run on a predetermined route on a fixed schedule
- All buses have wheelchair ramps/lifts.
Para-transit
Transportation services for individuals who have a disability that prevents them from independently using regular fixed route transit services. If the person's disability prevents them from getting to or from the bus stop
- Application Process to become eligible for Para-transit service.
- Para-transit service must be provided within 3/4 of a mile of a bus route
- At the same hours and days
- No more than twice the regular fixed route fare.
- The ADA further requires that Para-transit rides be provided to all eligible riders if requested any time the previous day, within an hour of the requested time.
Demand Response and/or Dial-A-Ride
Non-fixed route system of transporting individuals that requires advanced scheduling. An advance request for service is a key characteristic of demand-responsive and/or dial-a-ride service provided by public entities, nonprofits, and private providers.
- Service where a customer must call to receive it
- Origin of service might be limited
- Reservations are typically required 24 hours in advance
- Service is Curb to Curb or Door to Door
- Is not direct, point-to-point service. Your trip is scheduled with other riders, so allow a little extra time to get to your destination when scheduling your trip
- The dial-a-ride service can arrive 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after your scheduled pickup time.
Transit Passes
- Promotes a cost savings and increases rider choice and independence
- Passes can be in the form of bus passes, tokens, fare cards, or coupon books
Travel Training
- Training, most often for public, fixed route services, on using a transit system
Vanpool programs
(Missoula Ravalli Transportation Management Association)
- Part of the transit system that allows groups of people to share the ride similar to a carpool, but on a larger scale with savings in fuel and vehicle operating costs
Vehicles may be provided by individuals, individuals in cooperation with various public and private support programs, through a program operated by or on behalf of the government, or a program operated by or on behalf of an employer.
The idea is that people share the ride from home or one or more common meeting locations and travel together to a common destination, such as a work center.
Private For-Profit Companies
Taxi
Is a type of vehicle for hire, with a driver, for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice.
- No reservation required and no advance notification required
- Some companies operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Taxi companies charge a price per ride
- May provided services outside of the local community for an additional cost
- Some taxis are accessible, but the majority in Montana are not accessible
Private Non-Profit Companies
Human Service Transportation
- Provided by human service agencies for specific customers
1. Senior Center; Council On Aging
2. Developmental Disability Programs - Transportation that meets needs of customers served
- Characteristics of the services would likely vary from agency to agency
- Training is often one-to-one training, and tailored to the trainee and often times focuses on the specific routes that the individual wants to learn
Rural
Very limited or no public transportation and options cover a range of possibilities such as:
- Human service transportation may include Medicaid providers, adult, veterans, and senior services, residential or recreational services
- Other providers include family members, co-workers, volunteers, and cooperatives such as ride-matching services