A relatively new service offered by Twin Transit is seeing a hefty bump in ridership.
Executive Director Joe Clark said Thursday that pilot project Dial-a-Ride Twin Transit (DARTT) has seen a gradual increase in riders since it first hit streets last November.
During its first full month of operation, the transit authority recorded 20 trips. According to the most recent month’s data, they’ve seen around 500 trips.
“It really has taken off and we’re getting ready to do an expansion,” he said.
DARTT is Twin Transit’s door-to-door transportation program. It operates largely within western Lewis County and can even take residents into most parts of Thurston County, according to information on the agency’s website.
The van service operates Monday through Friday, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Reservations can be made by calling 360-330-5555 and must be made by 4 p.m. the previous day. Ride prices vary depending on location.
Lewis County residents largely use the service for medical appointments, shopping and to get to other service providers, said Twin Transit Community Relations Director Andrea Culletto, but residents also use it for daily commutes that include going to work and school.
She said she believes part of the rise in interest has come from gaining traction within the community, especially as Lewis County came out of COVID-19 restrictions.
The program also saw an expansion earlier this year from its regular service area within 15 miles around Centralia and Chehalis. Its service now stretches as far east as Morton and as far north as Olympia.
“We are thrilled to see how DARTT ridership has grown in the past few months. For many years, we have been receiving calls from people asking if we can help them get places that aren’t on our regular fixed route line,” Culletto said by email. “It has been so wonderful to finally be able to say, ‘Yes! We can help you get there!’”
Twin Transit currently has about five vans used daily for the program. DARTT has been funded through a $50,000 investment from Twin Transit, a $75,000 grant from the National Center for Mobility Management and Community Transportation Association of America and from program fees.
“We are pursuing several sources of funding for the continuation of this program, including consolidated grant funding and ongoing transportation agreements with community health care agencies, schools and other organizations,” Culletto wrote.
The service has also proven valuable to people with physical disabilities. According to Culletto, 13% of riders use a cane, 4% use a wheelchair and nearly 10% use a walker.
In total, 21% of trips were to apartments, 21% to services, nearly 14% to retail and 12% to medical appointments. About 2% of rides were to church and grocery stores.
