Several months ago, I wrote an article that misrepresented Souhegan Valley Rides and the Blue Bus that serves Wilton and other Souhegan Valley communities. When I wrote my column on housing issues facing Wilton, I failed to do adequate background research before sending it off to print. In it I stated the Blue Bus only provides rides to doctor’s appointments and suggested a more comprehensive service was needed to help those housebound or living in senior housing complexes. This is far from the truth. Souhegan Valley Rides already provides much-needed transportation for shopping, activities
and critical needs for people without personal transport, even collecting them at and delivering them back to their own homes, with proper advanced notice.
This service gives answers to many questions I’ve recently had to consider if I want to age in place. After my husband died, I realized that living solo as one ages entails risks. Andy was 15 years younger than I, so I was confident that should I no longer be able to drive, he would be there for transport for many more years, until he wasn’t. This has put me in the place my mother occupied many decades ago – living in a community far from public transportation.
I was the one who had to tell her she should give up her license and only succeeded in having her do so when her doctor stepped in and told her the same thing. But her doctor punctuated this news by explaining she had an obligation to report my mother’s failing cognitive ability to the state. With no public transportation available to her home in Sequim, Washington, my mother had to move to a facility where transportation would be provided. I don’t want this choice to be forced upon me.
This service means people can age in place in their homes for as long as possible. It just may take a bit more planning when needing to rely on the Blue Bus. That’s a small price to pay for autonomy and the ability to attend meetings, go to work, to shop, to the library, or to the gym, have lunch out, get lab-work done, or visit friends in other communities, not to mention keeping those doctor appointments.
Let me quote from their website:
“Souhegan Valley Rides (SVR) is a curb-to-curb, ‘dial-a-ride’ type bus service available to residents of Amherst, Brookline, Hollis, Milford, Mont Vernon and Wilton NH. Pre-registration is required to schedule a ride. The fare is $2 each way and rides must be scheduled at least 2 business days in advance by calling the NTS dispatch center at 603-880-0100 ext. 2.”
“The focus for this service is on providing transportation for non-emergency purposes and assisting those in greatest need – elderly residents, those living with a disability, and residents who are unable to drive. Other residents may use the service as space is available in the schedule. Rides are available to most destinations within the six communities and to/from Nashua depending on each day’s schedule.” This means shopping and other transportation needs including daily rides to work.
I’m sure there are many communities in the Monadnock Region that could use this type of service. Understanding how The Blue Bus began and how it works may help others build this type of service into their own towns. Here is the pertinent history of this service.
The Souhegan Valley Transportation Collaborative, a part of the Nashua Transit System, began as a grass roots organization of area citizens who had the foresight to tackle transportation options in the Souhegan Valley by building upon work initiated by the Granite State Organizing Project in 2005.
From the original working group, the Souhegan Valley Transportation Collaborative evolved, becoming a New Hampshire registered non-profit in 2009. SVTC raised awareness of the need and raised the funds required to implement the Souhegan Valley Rides bus service on October 1, 2008.
A hallmark of this endeavor has been community support and collaboration including financial investments from many individuals, local businesses and charitable organizations as well as the input from organizations such as the Nashua Regional Planning Commission and other state and regional partners.
All that’s required is for you to pre-register to begin using this service. Registering is easy and includes completing a short application form and returning it to the Nashua Transit System office. What’s needed is:
- Your full name
- Your telephone number
- The date of your trip
- The pick-up address
- The drop-off address
- Whether you use a mobility device (i.e. cane, walker etc.)
- The times you would like to arrive at and return from your destination
- Whether a PCA or guest will be riding with you
- Whether you will need assistance from the driver to board the bus
- Be aware that the bus will only wait five minutes for you at your stop but may arrive up to 15 minutes before or after your scheduled pick up.
You must call at least 2 business days in advance on weekdays 8AM-5PM to schedule your ride. For example, rides needed on Monday must be scheduled by the previous Thursday; rides for Wednesday must be scheduled by the previous Monday. Riders can call up to two weeks in advance to schedule a ride. Just as important as calling in advance to make an appointment is to call well ahead of time to cancel a pickup or to change the time of a pickup if an appointment is running late.
To obtain a registration form, call 603-880-0100 extension 2.