Menu
Healthy Nevada holds transportation forum
Friday noon saw more than 15 community leaders gather at Healthy Nevada's Innovation Center around the issue of transportation needs in Vernon County. County resident needs, existing resources and possible options were raised and discussed by those present.
Serving as presenter was Valerie Lefler, president and chief executive officer of Liberty Mobility Now Inc., based in Lincoln, Neb.
"This was an important first step to discover the needs and begin to consider possible solutions," said Kelly Ast, community coordinator with Healthy Nevada and chair of the forum.
Describing her company as a mobility service provider Leffler said, "Our model is not to take over or put out of business any existing transportation service."
Liberty seeks to connect communities through technology, public-private partnerships and by creating a pool of local drivers who serve when and where needed, across the county.
Said Leffler, "We provide and staff a call center which utilizes conventional and advanced smart phone technology, designed for rural areas, so individuals can request trips."
Since multiple existing entities provide services, coordination is important.
"With us, individuals would be able to access multiple transportation options with one tap, click, or call," added Leffler.
Ast's presentation on 2016 Nevada and Vernon County transportation data began by stating 12 percent, or 1,560 families with children live below the poverty line.
In Nevada, 35 percent of households own one vehicle, 288 households have no car and low access to a grocery store. The problem is compounded out in the county.
Review was made of the existing services provided by OATS, Nevada's public and private taxi services, along with the medical transport service provided by Nevada Regional Medical Center. The hours, cost and limited areas of service were also noted.
Mention was made of the few services available out in the county, such as Logisticare and ABC Transportation, which provide transportation for medical services by appointment, and Provide-A-Ride, which utilizes volunteer transport for elderly and persons without Medicaid.
"The personal impact of transportation is seen in access to food, agency resources, healthcare, education, getting to and from work and visiting with family and friends," said Ast.
Interviewed separately, Marilyn Johnson, coordinator of OATS services in Vernon County, related how its services were scaled back considerably in 2016.
Explained Johnson, "A couple of years ago, when the fares were raised to $10.00 for trips to Joplin, Springfield and Kansas City, our ridership in 2015 dropped so much that people in our central office decided to eliminate the trip to Butler and Kansas City and cut down the number of runs to Joplin."
OATS serves 87 counties in Missouri, enabling residents to have access to shopping and other services provided in larger urban areas.
In Johnson's view, when it comes to meeting the transportation needs of the people she serves personally, the two key factors are greater access and cost.
Quipped Johnson, "The incomes of people we transport are not fixed, they're broke."
While there are transportation needs in Nevada, they are even greater out in the county, said Johnson.
But almost as if correcting herself, Johnson added, "But the kicker to this all is cost. That is what is keeping a lot of folks from using our service."
Following the forum, Leffler expanded on the vision her company seeks to bring to communities.
"Right now, as Kelly's [Ast] presentation showed, less than one percent of the working population uses public transportation," said Leffler. "We want to facilitate the creation of a public-private system which would serve and meet the needs of all people, across all of Vernon County.
Under the Liberty Mobility model, the system would have about 40 drivers -- two per 1,000 people -- who would work much as Uber or Lyft drivers do.
Drivers would earn 80 cents out of each fare dollar with Liberty receiving the other 20 cents. Liberty would provide insurance on the personal vehicle, the driver as well as passengers.
One proposed model would see costs of $1 per mile travelled, before subsidies, and a booking fee of $3-$5.
Leffler listened to questions and a number of concerns.
"Now before you start to raise your eyebrows at such costs for those with low incomes -- which is an important segment we seek to serve -- remember, there will have to be subsidies so that customers can afford and will seek rides, drivers can make money and Liberty can cover insurance and network management costs."
At this point, reference was made to there being no such thing as a free lunch.
The public entities could include cities, the county, various social service agencies and private businesses.
Entities on hand included representatives from the city of Nevada, Vernon County, Ministerial Alliance, On My Own, Nevada Regional Medical Center, Kaysinger Basin Regional Planning Commission, Nevada Housing Authority and other entities.
Questions addressed drivers, insurance coverage, marketing, who could be served and how funding issues have been handled in other rural communities.
Ast concluded by stating, "Based on how well the presentation was received, the next step will be to form a task force," said Ast.
She continued by saying how neither Healthy Nevada nor herself will be the leaders of the project.
Ast added, "But we do think this is an important problem and we saw an opportunity to be the catalyst to bring people together and get things started."