Last year Midland, Mich., celebrated 50 years with the city’s Dial-A-Ride program. This program allows residents to call for curb to curb transportation within the parameters of the city. The program can be used by anyone in Midland from school-aged children to senior citizens. It can help students get to and from school each morning and help seniors or those with disabilities gain more freedom and independence.

In order to request a ride, one must simply call the Dial-A-Ride number. Rides can be requested up to 30 days in advance. Most of the time, same-day rides can also be accommodated. If the rider is a student or individual traveling to and from work, there can also be standing order rides. The program can be used for traveling to meetings, running errands or anything within the city. With Midland having a school-of-choice option, students who do not attend their district school do not have the option for bus transportation, so many use the Dial-A-Ride option to get to school.

The price is the same for all one-way full fares, which is $2. A child age five to 11 riding with a parent or sibling is $1. Children under age five riding with a parent are free. A reduced fare for seniors over 60 and those with a disability is $0.75. The city uses small cutaway buses about the size of a box van. These buses can fit up to eight seated passengers with two mobility secure areas or up to 12 seated passengers with the seats down and one mobility device.

Passengers who wish to use this service must be able to meet the bus at the curb. For those who may need assistance and have staff for that, the staff can ride along for free. Passengers must have shirt and shoes on. There are also good behavior guidelines to allow all passengers to ride safely and securely. All passengers must remain sitting while the bus is in motion and have all items, such as grocery bags, with them secured. According Dial-A-Ride’s manager, Rodney Merillat, the number of passengers using the service is almost back up to pre-COVID numbers. Each week a little over 2,000 people ride, with over 105,000 people using the service last year.

If there is a situation during a ride, the driver will write it up. The individual or parent will be contacted to discuss a problem if one occurred during the ride.

“It’s pretty rare to have to ask someone to find an alternative means of transportation,” Merillat stated.

The biggest issue the program faces is a no show after a ride has been ordered. Passengers are given a 20-minute time window when the bus will arrive. Drivers have a rate of being on time for 70% of all rides. Once the driver arrives, they will wait only two minutes before moving on and the rider is considered a no show.

“To them it’s no big deal, but that’s a ride we could have given to someone else,” he mentioned.

However, few passengers are repeat offenders. Midland just recently revamped the no show policy, too. Previously, if you missed three rides, the service was suspended until the rider came and paid a fee. If it happened again, the rider was suspended for a month. If it happened a third time, the passenger was allowed to ride on a case-by-case basis. However, since recent changes in October, the fee has been completely waived, and the passenger receives a warning phone call. The second step is a weeklong suspension and the third step is a monthlong suspension. The goal has been to make it more like a conversation so passengers understand the importance of calling and canceling a ride instead of simply choosing to no show.

The program is funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration. The city of Midland applied for grants with MDOT and the FTA in order to get the buses for the Dial-A-Ride program. There are 12 cutaway buses and three electric transit vans. Merillat’s predecessor had discussed testing electric vans and applied for a competitive grant, and Midland was one of four agencies chosen to receive two electric vehicles. The third electric vehicle was from a grant through Consumer Energy. Midland received these electric vans at the end of 2023.

With the electric vehicles, Merillat described, “There is a lot less regular scheduled maintenance. In the summer, they did really well on range. In the winter, not as good. The drivers enjoy driving them and cannot really tell a difference, power-wise.” The city has chargers on-site for the electric vans.

In order to become a Dial-A-Ride employee, applicants fill out an application and undergo a screening process along with two rounds of interviews. Accepted applicants must then receive a chauffeur’s license with a passenger endorsement. After passing the written test, applicants come in for training with the city of Midland and then must pass the road test. Most of the drivers are retirees. They are scheduled on shifts through the city based on availability.

City personnel who specialize in those vehicles maintain Dial-A-Ride buses and vans. Most of the work is done in-house.

“The garage fleet staff does a great job keeping them up and running,” Merillat said.

There is a regular preventative maintenance schedule for each of the vans and buses and a mandatory MDOT six-month inspection schedule. The greatest challenge so far with maintenance has been delays due to COVID. If there was an accident or a part needed replaced, many were delayed, and it could take up to six months to get parts. When COVID began, the city had three buses on order. Another company then had to be found to fulfill the contracts. Earlier this summer, the city received seven buses at once because of the backlog.

Feedback from residents has been mostly positive. Many users enjoy the freedom it allows and the affordability of pricing. The only negative feedback received has been regarding the no show policy, which was recently reconfigured.

Next Article: Cohort experience helps Sedona with electrification