Paratransit is the most expensive mode transit agencies in North America provide, so finding ways to save money and better serve the community is paramount. One way to do that is offer a bare-bones, only-what's-mandated service; which saves money, but underserves a vulnerable population. The other way is to get smart, to get innovative.

And that's exactly what Eileen Collins Turvey of Portland's TriMet did, and it paid off because she won the 2024 APTA Innovation Award for her pilot program giving paratransit customers Instacart Plus memberships.

It costs about $150 round trip for someone to use paratransit to go to the store. And they have to book ahead of time and can only bring two bags back from the store. But what if people could just have their groceries delivered instead? In her pilot, Eileen gave $10/mo Instacart Plus memberships to paratransit customers to let them buy groceries and have them delivered whenever they need from over 55 stores.

How's it working?

TriMet is saving $1500 per month per person and if the program is expanded to just half of their paratransit customers they could save $9 million per year.

In her conversation with host Paul Comfort, Eileen also talks about her personal connection to paratransit and her vision for what paratransit could and should be. Tune in for this awesome interview with a true trailblazer.

And if you'd like to learn more about it, Eileen provided us with a link to all her information and materials about the program. (text link: https://nextcloud.trimet.org/index.php/s/nyTqwgzefiGbNTB)

Coming up next week we head to Connecticut and hear from Ben Limmer, Chief of Public Transportation at Connecticut Department of Transportation and learn about their revitalization programs.

00:00 Introduction

00:59 Our guest: Eileen Collins Turvey

02:35 Winning the APTA Innovation Award

04:39 The Instacart Program: Concept and Implementation

05:59 Challenges and Solutions

10:47 Program Impact and Future Prospects

13:18 The Broader Vision for Paratransit

18:26 Final Thoughts

19:44 Coming up next week on Transit Unplugged

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