The Community Rides ~North Bus~

Service will be provided in the five communities as follows:

• Middleton......................Tuesday
• Wakefield & Brookfield......Wednesday
• New Durham...................Thursday
• Milton...........................Friday

Disabled & elderly residents have priority for once-a-week service from their homes, but others may ride as space permits.   Service may be for up to three supermarket and/or pharmacies.   Only the Walgreen pharmacy on South Main St. and the Ride Aid on Wakefield St. will not be served, due to unsafe access for the minibus.   Eventually, a predictable pattern of service will develop for each town served so that riders can plan on access to particular stores, but during the startup period, callers will be asked to note their shopping location preferences so that COAST can select the destination stores that serve the most requests.

Call (toll-free):  1-855-SE NH BUS (736-4287) on weekdays from 9am – 3pm to reserve a ride.   Reservations may be made up to 2 weeks in advance.   Rides will be scheduled the day before service is delivered, when COAST will call to tell riders when they can expect to be picked up.

The bus will pick up riders at their residence, but riders must be able to get to the street to board the bus.   Riders are expected to be able to get to and from the minibus and shop without driver assistance.   Persons needing personal assistance may be accompanied by a personal care attendant (PCA), who will also need to reserve space on the bus.    The minibus is equipped with a lift, which may be used by anyone unable to easily use the entry steps, including those with mobility devices.   Up to two devices (wheelchairs, scooters, etc.) may be accommodated.   A maximum of 12 ambulatory passengers may be carried, but that number will be reduced if persons with mobility devices ride the bus.   The reservationists will reserve up to 8 ambulatory seats then open up any remaining seats to persons on the “waiting list” on the day before service is to be delivered.

Generally, service is designed to get passengers to Rochester for shopping around 10:30am and leave Rochester no later than 12:30pm.   Depending on the number of riders and the distances to travel, home pickups may begin as early as 9:15am.

Fares will be $5 round trip or $2.50 each way for all riders except PCAs or children under 5.   Fares must be either cash or discounted punch passes that are available by mail from COAST (8 one-way rides for $18). Click here to download and print the pass order form.   Drivers will not make change nor handle fares.

Passenger will need to use the seatbelts and have no more than two shopping bags.   Riders will need to adhere to the COAST Code of Conduct so that all passengers can expect to have a safe and pleasant ride.

Volunteer drivers still needed!

If you are interested, please complete and send us this form.

Mail: COAST
C/O Amy Smith
42 Sumner Drive
Dover, NH

Questions? Call Amy Smith at 603-743-5777 x120

Fax: 603-743-5786

If you are interested, please complete and send us this form.

Please read the Volunteer Driver Scope of Duties for complete details. Information can also be found below.

Volunteer drivers are the key element to the success of the project to provide access to groceries and pharmacies for the rural disabled and elderly residents for the five towns that will be served: New Durham, Middleton, Milton, Wakefield and Brookfield.

If you live in one of these bucolic towns, you know how tough it must be for residents who can not drive or don’t have access to a vehicle.   Perhaps you have even given your local friends or neighbors rides in your own vehicle to run their errands.   The advantage of this new project is that you can still volunteer your time, but you won’t be using your own vehicle – you’ll be using ours!... and we’ll pay for the gas!....and we can do this for up to 12 people in one trip… how cool is that?!?

Imagine what the impact of a reliable weekly service will mean to those who need it: they’ll be able to predict when they can get their groceries or prescription drugs instead of having to worry if they’ll be able to get a ride or whether they’re burdening their friends or family on a regular basis.    What is their peace of mind worth to you?   A few hours a week or so?    Please consider being a volunteer driver.

What will be expected of you?

Volunteer drivers will NOT need a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL); a standard “operator” license is sufficient.

Before you Drive:

• Successfully pass the following screenings:
• Driving record check
• Criminal background check
• Drug & alcohol screening/testing
• DOT physical
• Participate in the following training, provided by COAST:
• Defensive Driving (approx 6 hrs)
• Project orientation
• Emergency Procedures (approx. 2 hrs)
• Passenger Assistance techniques (sensitivity training, wheelchair tiedowns, etc – approx. 2 hrs)
• Minibus familiarization/COAST radio familiarization (6-8 hrs)

When and Where?

• We expect to keep the minibus in the region north of Rochester, to make it easier for the volunteers to get to the vehicle.
• We expect that a time commitment each service day should be less than 5 hours:
• 1/2-hr vehicle pre-trip inspection & travel to starting pickup point
• 1 hour to collect residents within the community & travel to urban area
• 1 – 1.5 hr in the Rochester area for shopping needs
• 1 hour to return residents to their homes
• ½ hr post-trip travel and to secure vehicle (will include fueling at DOT yard)
• It is expected that the service will be delivered from mid-morning to early-afternoon, but the exact timing may be modified by the community or the users
• Volunteer drivers are not restricted to driving in their own community; they can drive in any number of the five communities
• Volunteers are expected to drive at least once per month, but a weekly commitment is  encouraged and welcome.

Other issues:

• The “manifest”, or list of riders to be served, will be communicated (preferably via email) to the volunteer driver the night before service is scheduled.
• Since this service is intended to meet the community’s needs, the timing of the service in each community (earlier or later in the day than originally planned, or even a collective agreement to spend more time in the urban area) will be negotiated amongst the participants, but COAST will need to approve all changes in service timing.
• While there will be a fare charged to riders, there will be a farebox on-board the minibus, so no cash-handling will be required

While COAST will consider all qualified persons, those who are retired, at-home-moms/dads, or currently between jobs are encouraged to participate in this community-based project.

This service depends on volunteers driving their friends and neighbors.   Please consider being the “driving force” behind this project!

About The Community Rides Project

The mission of the Alliance for Community Transportation (ACT) is to expand affordable and efficient community transportation by encouraging improved, expanded and coordinated transportation services.    This mission serves as the foundation for “The Community Rides” program.

ACT serves as the “regional coordinating council” for community transportation in the “southeast New Hampshire” region: 38 communities stretching from Seabrook to Brookfield and Wakefield.

The North Bus Service was conceived to provide transportation services to the disabled and elderly persons in rural communities north of Rochester where there are no other transportation resources available.   The communities chosen for this project rank amongst the highest in the region for unmet transportation needs for the elderly and disabled; in these communities, the elderly and disabled populations are 23-25% of the total population.

In concert with the concerns of the private funders supporting ACT’s efforts (the Endowment for Health and the United Way of the Greater Seacoast) this pilot project was designed to provide weekly access to basic nutrition and prescription drugs for the rural disabled and elderly who have no other transportation options available.   It is hoped that future efforts may more directly address transportation needs for medical purposes.

This project is funded with a grant from the Federal Transit Administration with matching funds from the Endowment for Health and the United Way of the Greater Seacoast, in addition to the riders’ fares and the “in-kind” services of the volunteer drivers.   At present, this project is fully funded and will require no local community contribution, but if this project is successful and continues into the future, it is likely that the local communities will need to provide some matching funds at some point to continue the service.

COAST is committed to providing a safe, reliable, high-quality service to the residents of the five communities that will be served by the North Bus.   However, success will be dependent largely upon the interest and commitment of the volunteer drivers from the communities to be served.

Please consider being a “driving force” behind this project!