Toyota Grant Lets DART Expand Program For Elderly And Disabled
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ALLEN (CBS11) - There are many people in Collin County who can't drive but still need to get around.
Now with a million dollar grant from Toyota, some of the people in the fastest growing part of North Texas can still get an affordable ride where they need to go.
For the last five years an eye condition has left Sean Wright legally blind and unable to drive. For the last several weeks he's been able to take a DART shuttle to his dentist and other doctors appointments.
"There's definitely a real sense of independence and things like that," Wright said.
Wright used to use the TAPS service for non-emergency medical trips until last year when problems at the public transit agency forced them to shut down rides. He says he's spent thousands of dollars on ride-sharing applications over the last year, and even that wasn't always reliable.
"Thirty minutes before you have to be at work, something like that, you flip on the app, no Uber's available in your area. You're like, uh oh. Hey, man I might be late," Wright said.
DART temporarily took over the TAPS program that provides medical rides in Allen, Fairview, and Wylie. After losing his job at TAPS, driver Scott Coxwell found a new job driving his old shuttle that still has the TAPS logo printed on the seats.
"About five or six people that I pick up on a normal basis rode TAPS, and they remember me," Coxwell said.
But until Toyota announced its million dollar grant, the program was set to end in May.
Now it will continue through the end of September when DART plans to expand into more of Collin County with the hope of serving up to 3000 people formerly served by TAPS.
"They're trying to make their way in life, and they just want to be normal. They want to show up to where everyone else is showing up, and do those kind of things, and it definitely gives them that opportunity," Wright said.
DART tells us they still have to come to agreements with the individual towns and cities that will participate starting in October, and those agreements will determine how much the program can expand.
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