The town of Russell is being asked to pay more for its share of the rides offered by the Franklin Regional Transportation Association (FRTA).
The topic was discussed at this week’s Board of Selectman meeting where questions arose about the number of trips taken by Russell residents.
“It’s a wonderful service they provide for our elderly, but it needs to be policed,” said Selectwoman Pandora Hague.Huntington Select Board Chairperson Aimee Burnham is the FRTA coordinator for Huntington, Russell, Chester, Blandford and Montgomery. She said the FRTA, Headquartered in Greenfield, gave the towns a van to use. Huntington is the lead community and hires the drivers.
Burnham explained that each town pays an assessment in its cherry sheet for the service, that amount is then tripled when matched by FRTA funds it receives from grants and other sources. Burnham said that in 2011, for the first time, there was not enough money assessed to cover costs.
“This has never been a hot button issue before because we had enough money,” she said.
To meet current costs, voters in the town of Huntington approved additional funding of the program. Moving forward, Burnham said each town must pay for what it uses.
“Huntington pays for 65 percent of ridership, but only uses about 53 percent of ridership,” said Burnham. “Blandford pays for 20 percent and only uses 16 percent. Chester pays for five percent and is using 16 percent, and Russell pays for nine percent but uses 14 percent.”
Burnham said from July 2011 to March 2012, Russell had 315 trips, Chester had 364 trips, Blandford had 371 trips and Huntington had 1,174 trips. There were no trips to or from Montgomery in that time period.
Burnham said the goal is not to place a financial hardship on towns, but for each town to pay for the percentage of ridership from that town.
“Baby boomers are getting older and people are staying in their homes longer,” said Burnham. “We are seeing an increase in ridership.”
Burnham stressed the importance of the program.
“This is such a vital service to our seniors, so it’s a no-brainer that we should fund this,” Burnham said.
