Ever wonder why Warren has so many different busses?

Or why the little busses don’t seem to follow a set route or schedule?

That’s because of the Shared Ride Program, said Danell Sowers, Executive Director of Experience Inc., Warren’s Area Agency on Aging.

The state program provides reduced rates for seniors over 65 throughout the county to ride public transportation.

In Warren, the Transit Authority of Warren County (TAWC) provides the transportation. It’s funded through a combination of sources. Said Wendy Winkels, TAWC Executive Director, 85 percent of the funding for the Shared Ride program comes from the Pennsylvania Lottery.

When they say the lottery “benefits older Pennsylvanians?” That’s one of the ways it does that.

The remaining 15 percent of funding for the rides come from local sources, with the majority of it being paid by Experience, Inc., and the remainder coming from the seniors themselves.

Right now, said Winkels, 14 of that 15 percent comes from Experience with seniors making up the final one percent of the fare by paying for rides.

In the past decade, there has been a slow increase in the amount that seniors have had to pay for TAWC transportation. Initially, seniors paid nothing for the service, which includes door to door rides from point A to point B, Sowers explained.

Within the last decade, Warren seniors saw a rate increase from free to $0.25 per ride. A “ride,” said Sowers, is one point A to point B transport. “If you go from your house to Walmart,” explained Sowers, “that’s a ride. If you go from Walmart to the mall, that’s a ride.”

Shared Ride services also include busses that go to Erie. This is an important resource for area seniors who need to access medical care or other resources not available locally. For a one-way trip from Warren to Erie, seniors over 65 currently pay a rate of $0.25.

For comparison, “Fixed Rate” riders of TAWC busses — those who go to a bus stop and catch a bus that’s running an established route — pay $1 per ride locally, and $10.50 one way to Erie.

Counties are able to set up their own fares for seniors based on available resources and budgets. But, said Sowers, since Area Agency on Aging offices have become flat funded, which has happened in the past decade, the costs of transportation have increased without an increase in funding from the state to provide Shared Ride programs.

That, said Sowers, is why seniors have seen the gradual rise in fares.

And they’re going to go up again.

Starting July 1, seniors over 65 can access the Shared Ride door-to-door local service for $0.50 per ride and $3.15 one way to Erie.

“Yes,” said Sowers, “it’s an increase. But it’s still very much an affordable rate and a discounted rate compared to what else is out there.” While Sowers said that she knows the rate increase directly impacts area seniors, it’s unavoidable when the rise in the cost to operate public transportation isn’t reflected in funding to the program.

“We feel bad that we have to increase it,” said Sowers, but Experience Inc. and TAWC have tried to make sure that the Shared Ride program remains accessible for seniors. “It’s still reasonable,” said Sowers.

Winkels added that Warren County, even after the increases that take effect July 1 of this year, will still be the most affordable county in the state for seniors to access public transportation. Seniors in Erie County pay anywhere from $1.65 to $6.15 per ride, $2 to $7 per ride in Crawford County, $1.50 to $3.75 per ride in Venango County, and $2 and up with the Allegheny County Transit Authority.

“TAWC appreciates your understanding for this fare increase and wants you to know we will use these funds to continue providing safe and courteous service to the senior citizens of Warren County.”

Anyone with questions and concerns, said Winkels, should feel free to contact TAWC at (814) 723-1874.