EAST?LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow, Hampden and Longmeadow COA’s have banned together to create the Tri-Town Trolley, which will serve seniors in their respective and surrounding communities. The Council on Aging (COA) Pilot Program is set to begin on Sept. 1 after a five-year process of regionalizing the towns.      

Five years ago Executive Director of Pleasant View Senior Center in East Longmeadow Carolyn Brennan received a grant to start the regionalization of the area towns because it was becoming expensive for seniors to utilize the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) transportation.

“They [seniors] would come to lunch, and it was $2.50 each way, plus they pay for lunch, so it was eight or nine dollars just to have lunch here and at the other senior centers,” Brennan said.

According to Brennan, the Pilot Program will provide a huge cost savings compared to PVTA.  Under the Tri-Town Trolley, all in-town rides will cost a senior $1 and out-of-town rides cost $2.

Currently, the program is the Two Town Trolley as it only services Hampden and East Longmeadow.  Once the program takes over Longmeadow, it will be known as the Tri-Town Trolley.

“We have an inter-municipal agreement and that just had to go through each town to get signed and now it’s at PVTA, so they’re signing that.  I have the additional vans ready to go, we should be getting them next week,” Brennan said, “Now we’re in the process of having to contact the present contractor and get all of that information, especially for Longmeadow, to get their ridership to be able to make the transition.”

Under the current Two-Town Trolley, there are two vans. One van completes daily trips between both towns.  Additionally, there is a shopping shuttle that picks up seniors on Tuesdays and brings them to grocery stores.  

East Longmeadow COA just received a Ford MV-1, which is the first vehicle of its kind in Western Massachusetts.  The MV-1 is able to hold the driver, two seniors, and a senior in a wheel chair.  The MV-1 will be utilized once the Tri-Town Trolley is underway.

“We have these trips that just don’t fit in with the schedule or they’re in a more rural area of Hampden, so instead of taking a huge van, which is a huge gas guzzler, this smaller van will be way more cost-effective to use that to do those trips,” Brennan said.

Nearly 20 years ago Brennan was the Council on Aging Director in Hampden.  At the time, PVTA’s transportation was based on the senior population.  Since Hampden is lesser in population size than surrounding towns, PVTA only provided transportation about three days a week.  Brennan proposed the idea to regionalize Longmeadow, East Longmeadow, Wilbraham and Hampden’s transportation so additional vans would be available to each town.

“It just made sense to make a proposal to PVTA back then to regionalize and get all of the resources together.  PVTA chose a different path after a couple years and wanted to do a regionalization that covered all of Hampden County and Hampshire County.  Since that time, it’s been very clear that regionalization works on a small scale, it does not work when you get that big,” Brennan stated.

When PVTA regionalized the two counties, Brennan noted the quality of service went down and the cost accelerated for the seniors.  She believes that having a local driver who is familiar with the seniors is important, which is one of the reasons why Brennan decided to push for the Tri-Town Trolley.

“It took ten years to prove to PVTA that we should try it.  The population for seniors has skyrocketed and PVTA is mandated to provide ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] rides for those who live in a fixed route.  The rest of those, who don’t fall under that criteria, they’re not mandated to provide that transportation, so really it was at the risk that they’d stop providing it.  They were really motivated to find something that was more cost efficient,” Brennan said.

The East Longmeadow COA has an attendance of about 130 seniors per day.  Currently, the COA transports seniors to medical appointments, shopping centers, hairdressers, drugstores and more.  The biggest challenge and priority for the new program is to transport seniors to their medical appointments, though they don’t denounce the important socialization the Trolley creates.

“It’s more than just providing transportation, it’s really about those isolated seniors being able to get out because it’s actually the number one threat for depression and other health related diseases, isolation,” Brennan noted, “It’s so much more than picking somebody up and bringing them somewhere.”

For seniors who don’t have their licenses or a vehicle to drive, getting around town to various appointments or to even meet up with friends can be a challenge.  Often they’re left to rely on family members for transportation.  Brennan wants seniors to take advantage of this program, as she believes it won’t take their independence away.

“We want the seniors to be independent.  We don’t have to call up somebody and ask them to drive us to work.  For someone to just call up and sit on a bus, that’s a level of independence that we want to keep,” Brennan said.

The towns of East Longmeadow, Hampden and Longmeadow do not pay into the program, as it is grant funded.  Now, PVTA will be subsidizing the program.

“The pilot program is going to be in place and I’m absolutely confident it will be more efficient,” Brennan said.

If a senior would like to schedule a ride or to gain additional insight about the program, they’re encouraged to call the East Longmeadow COA’s Transportation Director Terry at 525-5436 ext. 1410.