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 Special Transportation Services (STS) provides transportation assistance to the most transit dependant populations in Maricopa County, which include the elderly, disabled, and low-income individuals. STS owns and operates a 70-van fleet with a trained and paid driver staff serving primarily the urban and suburban areas of Maricopa County. Assistance is provided through the following programs.
Home Delivered Meals
STS delivers more than 120,000 nutritious noon meals to homebound elderly and/or disabled persons annually. This critical service helps to address the health and safety needs of vulnerable individuals and often times is the only meal of the day for a senior or disabled person. In addition, HDM drivers perform a welfare check for the clients. There have been instances where these welfare checks have saved the life of a senior who has fallen or been the victim of a stroke and unable to contact emergency services.
Senior Transportation
With subsidies from Area Agency on Aging, Maricopa County transports senior citizens to and from senior centers with a total of almost 60,000 trips annually. Service is Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, and is often the primary source for socialization for participating seniors. Clients are approved for service on a first come first serve basis and must be at least 60 years of age to participate. Transportation is cost-free to the participant and is provided between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Special Needs
Due to circumstances beyond their control many residents are unable to provide their own mobility for such basic necessities as health care, shopping, recreational and many other personal and social services. Special Needs is an advanced reservation transportation assistance program that provides almost 30,000 local trips to elderly, disabled, and low-income individuals. In addition, STS drivers are trained to directly assist clients to and from the vehicle, a feature not available from cab companies or most public or private transportation resources.
Transportation is cost-free to the participant and is provided Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. where and when funding supports additional service). Trips may be scheduled for medical, dialysis, recreational, shopping, social service, adult-day care, and/or employment needs. Because special needs trips are a fee for service, the allowable trip purpose is at the discretion of the jurisdiction.
Work Links
Work Links is a program designed to assist low-income persons with transportation to work, and to work-related activities. For qualified clients, transporting dependants to and from daycare is also included. Mobility Specialists work with participants to assess their transportation needs, and match them with a travel alternative that best accommodates that needs. In addition to providing connectivity to various public transportation options, including carpools/vanpools and public transit, Work Links also provides van transportation, bicycles, vehicle repair and emissions retrofitting, and gas stipends when the budget allows.
STS operates this program countywide in partnership with a number of transportation and human services providers and employment centers. The primary funding sources for this program are the Federal Transit Administration's Job Access and Reverse Commute funds, Maricopa County Workforce Connections, International Rescue Committee and MAG's federal transportation funds. From July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2006, the Work Links program provided more than 68,000 trips serving more than 1,230 people.
Ajo and Gila Bend Regional Connector Bus Service (Route 685)
Since March 2005 weekday bus service between Ajo and Gila Bend to Phoenix has been operating as Route 685. This Regional Connector service is sponsored by the Arizona Department of Transportation, Valley Metro, Maricopa County, and Pima County in an effort to provide citizens transportation options for employment, medical, social, and shopping trips.
Southwest Inter-City Transit System (Route 131)
Using Job Access Reverse Commute funds, STS helped support the establishment of Route 131 in the southwest valley. The route serves five major communities as a circulator route and connects to the regional system. Ridership is grown exponentially since the service inception.
For more information or to request transportation, call
(602) 372-4280
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