With our van out of service until who knows when, we have become dependent on bus service once again. We can walk to the market about a mile there and another back. or about 40 min round trip. We can check the P.O. while we are out. It gets me the exercise the Dr wants me to get. But its the dead of winter and its fricken cold out. LOL. The main issue is meds both my wife and I are on. We do have a drug store here which is nice, but my meds have to be at Walmart due to my having Humna for my Medicare Ins. The nearest Walmart is 20 mi away. In fact we have 3 near us but all 20 mi away.
Enter Trailblazer Transit, its a on demand bus service. you can set up a pick up M-F and go just about anyplace. But you must stay with in a 3 county area. We called them and got a ride to Walmart in Hutchinson MN. The dispatcher said how much time do you need at WM. an hour?? no problem. Last Monday the bus stopped in front of our house, and about 25 min later we are at WM. an hour later we are on the way home.
We had such good service we decided to take them again to do our major grocery shopping the next day. I call to set up a pick up, but they are booked until Thursday or Friday to Hutch. Find out that they do serve Buffalo. So a pick up is set for last Tuesday. Another pick up, drop off, shopping done, and we are back home by 1:30 pm. The fares are about $4.00 a person, and they will bill you for payment.
All in all the service was good, the only issue I have was the bus was way too warm, but I was dressed with too many layers. The buses were clean inside and out, no trash like you can find on public bus's in the Metro.
Not too many areas have this kind of bus service but we are lucky to have it available. The drivers all have regulars who ride and call you by name. When you call for pick up they take your name and the names of those riding with you. You do have to wear a seat belt but hey safety first.
That's it for know my friends...Stay Warm and Stay Vigilant.
P.S. Sammy liked the ride too.
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8 comments:
That's the same kind of bus I take. Here they have a circulator bus that comes by every hour and is a set route. That one costs $1 up to age 65 and 50 cents for seniors. Then we have Dial-A-Ride that is the same as the service you use. I use that one when I need to go somewhere that the circulator bus doesn't go. The bus service has been a life saver for me. And it costs me much less per year than it would cost for car payments, insurance, gas, maintenance, etc. for a vehicle. I would be reluctant to ride the inner city buses, but these smaller ones are nice and clean and you get to know the passengers and drivers. It's all good. And it sure beats walking a mile in sub-zero weather!
Sounds like a great deal, and pretty handy for you folks. There's a similar service here in Anchorage, called AnchorRides. The buses take 90 minutes, with a change in the middle, to cover the 10 miles from our neighborhood to the downtown area. I'm told the AnchorRide van gets there in 20 minutes. Not that I need to go downtown, mind, but it's good to know.
It beats walking or maintaining a vehicle that's for sure.
We don't have anything like that here. I wish we did.
The biggest issue was on the way back from Hutch we made two other pick ups and drop offs before we came home. On the plus side we saw parts of Hutch we had never seen before.
It is a good deal. You have to be done and back home by 5 pm as that's when they stop running.
For the seniors around here its great. I know we will always have this as a back up.
With you living in the mountains I guess it would be hard. I'm sure the company has picked up some funding from the Liberals in St. Paul and D.C.
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