Rural Transit looking to grow capacity, ridership through proposed Monroe County tax

Yoon is one of many Ivy Tech students who ride for free through the contract Rural Transit has with Ivy Tech.

The transit company is operated under the Area 10 Agency on Aging in Ellettsville. One of its main goals is to provide transportation service for the elderly and people with disabilities in Monroe and surrounding counties.

“It means so much to so many people,” said Area 10 Executive Director Kerry Conway. “It’s the difference between whether or not you can get to work. It’s the difference between whether or not you can get to your doctor’s appointment or to dialysis.”

But in order to serve the elderly and people with disabilities, Conway said, “It’s kind of a juggling game.”

It’s a “juggling game” because the state allocates money to the service using a few factors — one of which is ridership — and the Ivy Tech routes keep those ridership numbers high.

While mass transit services such as Bloomington Transit provide fixed routes, Rural Transit routes can deviate up to a quarter mile from what’s on the schedule. “Demand-response” routes can pick people up at their homes for between $1 and $3.