Rural Area Public Transit Services

Organizations that provide viable transportation options that enable older adults, people with disabilities, students, veterans and others living in rural areas and small towns (especially those with low incomes and/or limited ability to drive) to take advantage of employment and educational opportunities, attend health and social service appointments, go to meetings, participate in social and leisure activities and shop for groceries and other necessities in their own or neighboring communities. Transit options include intercity bus services (which are especially crucial to providing services for communities without passenger rail options), fixed-route mass transit services that utilize buses that run along an established path at preset times picking up passengers at designated bus stops, and interregional bus services that connect smaller communities with urban centers. Variations include express fixed-route services with fewer stops; deviated-fixed route services which allow vehicles to deviate from the fixed route to pick up passengers at other specific locations, e.g., places of employment or child care centers, while keeping to a timetable for scheduled stops; point-deviation services which allow vehicles to stop at scheduled stops per a timetable but pick up passengers with advanced reservations between scheduled stops; and arrangements in which vehicles have no fixed stops but allow riders to hail a vehicle which travels along a fixed route and request a drop-off anywhere along the route.