Capital Metro will soon begin distributing 59 vehicles retired from its RideShare program to 22 local community organizations, recipients of the agency’s new Community Mobility Vehicle Grant Program.
Organizations receiving the vans include Austin Children's Shelter (Austin Children's Services); Austin Clubhouse, Inc.; Austin Travis County Integral Care; Austin Youth & Community Farm, Inc. (Urban Roots); AVANCE Austin, Inc.; Burnet County Vet Rides; Christian Women’s Job Corps of Austin (River City Hope Street); Drive A Senior Easter Seals Central Texas, Inc.; Front Steps, Inc.; and Helping the Aging, Needy and Disabled, Inc. (H.A.N.D.).
Also receiving vehicles are Highland Lakes Family Crisis Center; Huston-Tillotson University; Keep Austin Beautiful, Inc.; Marbridge Foundation, Inc.; Mary Lee Foundation; Phoenix Arising, Inc.; South Asians' International Volunteer Association (SAIVA); Travis Association for the Blind; Travis County Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Survival Center (Safe Place); Wholly Committed Ministries, Inc.; and the Williamson County Crisis Center (Hope Alliance).
The goal of the program is to provide retired vehicles from Capital Metro’s RideShare fleet to community and government agencies to help them fulfill unmet transportation needs. The vehicles must be used to support Capital Metro’s MetroAccess service by providing paratransit trips or addressing similar needs, such as providing transportation to seniors, veterans, people with disabilities or low income residents.
“Capital Metro understands that there are many people in the community in dire need of access to basic transportation,” said Linda S. Watson, president and CEO of Capital Metro. “We recognized that our retired vehicles could have a whole new second life, and developed the grant program to help agencies in the area better address this essential concern.”
Non-profits and government agencies submitted applications from June 1 to July 25 this year as part of this first-time program. Capital Metro received 30 proposals during the application period.
Applicants had to demonstrate they had the financial and management capacity to operate, maintain and insure the vehicles. The grant stipulates that vehicles cannot be used to provide transportation to the general public for a fee or fare, or for political purposes.
Each recipient will assume ownership of the vehicles through official title transfers. In exchange for receiving a vehicle, recipients must show compliance with the grant’s intent by documenting the number of passenger trips they provide, hours operated and miles of service on a quarterly basis for two years.
