ALLEGANY AND GARRETT COUNTIES
1. Long distance medical transportation. There are two major concerns regarding the
provision of long-distance medical transportation. The first concern is that there is not a way to pay for the trip for people who do not qualify for Medicaid. The second concern is the complicated logistics of trying to coordinate passenger trips among providers in the region. Efforts to coordinate these trips on a regional basis have been tried, but the total trip distances were so long that it is impractical from an operational perspective. Major medical destinations include Baltimore (MD), Morgantown (WV), Winchester (VA), and Pittsburgh (PA).
2. Vehicles better suited for the terrain. Many of the public transit and human service riders reside in remote, mountainous areas that often require four-wheel drive capability in the winter months. The cost of adding four-wheel drive capability to rural transit vehicles is not currently reimbursed by State or federal funds.
3. Better marketing and education. Many people in Garrett and Allegany Counties do
not know what transportation services are available to them or how to access a ride. There is a need to better educate client advocates so that they can in turn educate the clients they serve. There is also a need to develop marketing programs that can help overcome people’s fears of riding transit and reduce the stigma of riding transit that can exist in rural areas.
4. Additional funding opportunities. The cost per trip to provide service is very high
in the remote areas of the region and the users cannot afford to pay a high fare.
5. Expanded transportation to local medical facilities for low-middle income
residents who are not eligible for Medicaid-funded transportation services.
6. Expanded seasonal transit options so that people can access jobs at Wisp, at Deep
Creek Lake, and at Rocky Gap Resort.
7. Expanded transit services in the Route 36 Corridor.
8. Additional transit options in the outlying areas of the County. There are transit
needs outside of the current commuter service area. There are also new residential developments that are not located within the service area.
9. Additional operational funding. The majority of the current transit service is
FREDERICK COUNTY
1. Improved interagency coordination. There is a need to improve the flow of
information from the human service agencies to TransIT with regard to the transit needs of their clients. There is also a need for better connections between public transit services and human service agency-provided services.
2. Additional transit opportunities to access employment opportunities.
3. Transit services later in the evenings. Current transit services end at 9:45 p.m.,
which is before many retail and restaurant employees are finished their evening shifts.
4. Expanded demand-response/specialized services on weekends. The current
TransIT-Plus service does not operate on the weekends, other than in the complementary ADA service corridors (Saturday only).
5. Additional transit opportunities to connect the rural areas of the county to
Frederick. This need is for both able-bodied and disabled riders.
6. Transit services on Sundays.
7. Additional transit opportunities for out-of-county destinations, such as Baltimore,
Annapolis, and Montgomery County.
8. Additional transit opportunities for shopping and medical trips, as well as more
convenient travel options for people who are “trip-chaining” (i.e., making a trip with several destinations and trip purposes, such as daycare/employment or employment/grocery store, or medical/pharmacy/grocery store, etc.).
9. Expanded volunteer programs to help meet the demand for trips that are not
effective to provide using traditional public transit.
10.Additional transit options in the outlying areas of the County. There are transit
needs outside of the current commuter service area. There are also new residential developments that are not located within the service area.
11.Additional operational funding. The majority of the current transit service is provided in and around the City of Cumberland.
WASHINGTON COUNTY
1. More wheelchair-accessible vans and additional access to the existing fleet of
2. Expanded transit availability to access employment opportunities, including evenings, weekends, and holidays.
3. Additional transit options in the outlying areas of the County. There are transit
needs outside of the current County Commuter service area. There are also new residential developments that are not located within the County Commuter service area.
4. Expanded transit availability for all trip purposes on weekends.
5. Additional operational funding. The majority of the current transit service is
provided in and around the City of Hagerstown, though the City does not make a financial contribution to County Commuter.
6. Additional marketing. There is currently not enough staff people to develop an
effective marketing and advertising program for County Commuter.
7. Additional funding programs for people who fall between the cracks. It is difficult for some riders to pay their fares, particularly for long-distance trips, if they do not qualify for Medicaid, Temporary Cash Assistance, or some other governmental assistance program. This would include a taxi voucher program.
8. Additional transit services in the evenings for all trip purposes.
9. Additional transit availability for the Hopewell Road area, where several
distribution centers have been built.
10. Additional transit availability for dialysis trips.
WESTERN MARYLAND – UNMET TRANSPORTATION NEEDS AND ISSUES STATEMENT
The Western Maryland Regional Coordinated Planning Committee met on August 10, 2010 to review the unmet transportation needs of individuals with disabilities, older adults, and people with low incomes. The Committee provided input on the existing 2007 list of unmet transportation needs and the list was modified to reflect their comments. Only slight changes were made to the existing unmet transportation needs list. The changes to the unmet transportation needs are noted in Table 5-1.
Table 5-1: Unmet Transportation Needs and Issues Statement
Unmet Transportation Need/Issue Older
Adults People with Disabilities People With Low Incomes Regional/ County Specific
Limited transportation options for people who live outside the fixed- route service areas, particularly for people in the more remote areas of the region.
X X X
Allegany, Frederick,
and Washington Limited transportation options on
Sundays and evenings, especially to serve work-related trips.
X X X Regional
Long-distance medical transportation, particularly for people who are not Medicaid-eligible.
X X X Regional
Customers and their advocates may need travel training on how to use services.
X X X Regional
Limited transportation options for dialysis trips, particularly for people
who are not Medicaid-eligible. X X X Regional
The lack of funding to subsidize the trips for people who are not funded
through an agency. X X X Regional
Limited transportation options to access
second and third shift jobs. X X X Regional
Transit services to access employment opportunities, particularly in newly developing industrial areas.
X X X Regional
Access to paratransit vehicles that can operate over difficult terrain.
X X X More
specific to Allegany and Garrett
Counties Limited transit opportunities for out-of-
county destinations.
X X X Regional
More wheelchair accessible vans X X X Regional
Improved interagency coordination X X X Regional
Additional operational funding X X X Regional