The high cost of fuel has impacted everyone’s budget, and the transportation budget at ABC is no exception. Even with gas prices now receding, we are averaging approximately $12,000 per month for fuel alone.

Our drivers, transportation team, and job coaches are working hard to maximize rider capacity with more efficient routes and extra “individualized” rides throughout the day; the effort has resulted in a reduction of expensive, contracted rides.

Expansion enables our people to work more hours in more locations. More individuals working in the community equals more fuel consumption

But this has pushed our fleet of vehicles to capacity.
When I step back and realize that in a month’s time, our Rochester fleet has provided 3,620 rides just to get our participants to and from work and then spent the time between routes to provide close to 800 rides per month to get crews and individuals transported between job sites in order to fulfill our obligations-I realize it takes a tremendous amount of effort and communication among all our staff throughout every program to make it work. I commend the efforts of all the staff throughout all programs that work so hard to provide our participants the opportunity to expand their skills in community job settings and work so hard with us to make sure they have the means to get there.

We have more work to do.
Those participants who live in rural areas or “bedroom” communities are difficult to include in established routes, and although we’ve been able to efficiently expand routes to include a few, there are many more that are unable to get to work without rides from contracted transportation providers.
Since the “Greater Minnesota Transit Bill” passed, we’ve been involved with the committee to troubleshoot the greatest needs-including the need for more versatile and less expensive transportation for our participants in our outlying areas.

We’ve made a lot of progress but we still have 'miles to go before we sleep'.

-Kim Mason, Transportation Coordinator

Common to all of ABC’s programs is the need for transportation. Whether it is getting clients to a work site, PACTT classes, or a social outing, the expected program outcomes could not be achieved without a way to get people around.

From one van fifteen years ago, to a fleet of 16 vans and buses in Rochester and 12 vehicles in Caledonia and LaCrescent, transportation needs have grown as ABC’s population has increased.

We work with PossAbilities of Southern Minnesota in a collaborative effort to provide specialized transportation for those with special needs; but the demand still outweighs our capabilities in terms of shear volume.

Our goal is to provide transportation to those with special needs in the safest, most efficient, and most cost effective manner; given the tremendous increase in gas prices, “cost-effective” may prove to be a goal that exceeds our reach.

We are always looking for ways to be more economical - using public transportation whenever possible and trying to schedule van runs that pick up more people per run are two ways we've used to improve efficiency. However this problem is still looming large.

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