PCTA’s van doors open to all Polk residents
Polk County Transportation Authority (PCTA) vans traveled 125,700 miles during the first six months of this budget year.
That amounts to 4,623 trips or 20,950 miles a month.
“We’re busier now than we’ve ever been because we’ve got a lot more people calling us with everything that has happened with the economy,” said PCTA Director Jewell Carswell.
PCTA was established in the early 1980s via the Older Americans Act, which provided a block grant for senior centers, home care and transportation.
Things have changed dramatically for the authority since then. Carswell said PCTA makes itself available to the entire community now and wants more people to be aware of the services the authority provides.
“Some people have the perception that [PCTA is] for poor people but some of the poor also think they can’t afford it. Then we have a lot of people who think the service is only for seniors,” Carswell said. “There are a lot of misconceptions out there.”
The authority works to maximize the efficiency of every trip made in county or out of county, said administrative assistant Tracy Waters. To do so they require a two-day notice for anyone needing an in-county trip and a five-day notice for anything outside Polk County.
“The reason for that is so we can consolidate and be as cost effective as we can be,” Waters said.
Waters said this means passengers on occasion must wait for others to finish doctor’s visits or be prepared to leave earlier in order to ride along to other passenger’s appointments, especially when these take place out of the county.
The department often takes 22-25 out-of-county trips in a day.
Carswell said they also make regular trips to local grocery stores and two trips a month to Hendersonville for additional shopping.
The authority provides broader services than many may realize, Carswell said. One service in particular includes taking passengers to the airport for as little as 13 cents a mile.
Carswell and Waters said for this service they ask that residents make appointments with the authority at least one week in advance.
PCTA also transports kids to daycare, drives people seeking jobs to interviews and takes seniors to The Meeting Place.
“When you think about it – you’re mobile,” Waters said. “When you want to go somewhere you get in your car and you go. Many of our passengers can’t do that.”
Anita Richardson falls into that category.
The initial loss of her mobility to multiple sclerosis in 2007 didn’t stop her.
The Pea Ridge resident continued to drive until last year when she could no longer get herself in and out of her vehicle.
Richardson said she initially feared having to move into a nursing home, forcing her to leave the “little country home” she loves.
Luckily, she said, she was quickly directed to PCTA.
“If it were not for them, I couldn’t go shopping, I couldn’t go anywhere,” Richardson said. “In my book they are on top – they really make my life possible here and here is where I’m happy.”
Richardson looks to PCTA for grocery shopping, going to the bank and simply getting out and about to enjoy a day around Columbus.
“I see other people on the bus and they can still walk but they don’t have the means to get a car to go do laundry, to go grocery shopping, to go to the bank,” Richardson said. “They too rely on the vans. Otherwise [without PCTA] you would be locked away. Especially out here on the country roads you wouldn’t easily be able to get anywhere.”
The transportation authority’s budget year runs from July-June. The department recently submitted its grant application to the state for 2012, which includes a request for two new vans. Those vans, if granted, would replace vans operating with more than 100,000 miles each. For fiscal year 2011, the department requested a total budget of $63,000.
Carswell said it amazes her to see how much the department has grown. In 1989, she said they hesitated in asking for a budget amounting to $4,000.
The state supplies 90 percent of capital costs required to operate the authority. This means North Carolina supplies funds for vans, computers, telephones, radios and other necessities.
The state also reimburses the county for 85 percent of administration costs – salaries for two and a half employees.
Operating costs are not covered by the state. These expenditures include gas, maintenance of vehicles and parts such as tires.
These costs PCTA offsets with grant money and contracts for transportation with the aging program and vocational services, Carswell said.
A minimal fee of 13 cents per mile is charged to all riders under age 60. Residents 60 and older ride for free.
In 2010, the county board of commissioners also contributed $10,807 to the department’s budget, she added.
To schedule an appointment for transportation, call 828-894-8203.