- Families face challenges when it comes to public transit.
- Valdosta has options for families.
- Watch the video to see what's available.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Nearly 40 percent of people who need public transit live in rural areas with limited access to them.
I just talked with a mother and daughter who are struggling to get around the Azalea City.
I'm also asking city leaders what options neighbors may have here.
Meet Tori Townes and her daughter Deausha. Both live in Brittany Woods, a complex that accommodates people on a fixed income. They can get by on lower rent, but it presents a new set of challenges for them.
"Where I live is very far from a lot of different places that are offering services, so it's very, very difficult." Deausha tells me between caring for her young daughter as well as finding a way to go back and forth to work leaves her stressed. "I've been going back and forth everyday calling on a car, checking on it, I've talked to the people at the DFCS office, its just... they're not really rushing to get it done."
I reached out to the city to see their public transit options.
I was directed to Valdosta On Demand, the city's rideshare service.
I checked out the city's website.
It says service runs Monday-Friday 5:30am-9pm.
They aim to make it affordable to neighbors at $2 per trip, $1 for each extra passenger.
Due to high demand, they had to expand their roster from 5 regular vans and two handicapped accessible vans to 10 total cars.
Despite the expanded service...
Deausha says the area needs more "People that actually care about getting people the help that they need."
For the last year, Valdosta On-Demand's daily ride demands range from 300-500.
