Raymond voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve funding a transportation system that would provide rides to grocery stores, doctors’ appointments and the like. The ride system would provide transportation for seniors, those without licenses and others who find it difficult to get where they need to go.
 |
| Raymond voters will decide on June 10 whether to fund a mini-van for RTP's QuickRide program which would schedule and provide transportation for local residents anywhere within the town. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Unlike a typical bus service where people wait at established bus stops to catch a bus that drives a specific route, riders using QuickRide would schedule, either via telephone or online, a micro-van that would pick them up at their home and take them where they want to go within the Raymond community.
Raymond Town Manager Joseph Crocker compared the bus to an Uber service that provides door-to-door service.
“The thought is to get people to be transported to groceries or doctors’ appointments, things like that, in the area,” Crocker said. “Use almost like an Uber that comes to your house but through RTP. They have an app or office to call to schedule (a ride). They’ll pick you up at your location and then drop you off at either appointments or groceries. So it’s kind of like a scheduled transportation service. So, it’s a little more customizable than just a regular bus stop.”
The Quick Ride program is needed in Raymond, Crocker said.
“Public transportation has definitely been on the radar for people,” he said. “Obviously, being a rural area, it’s kind of tough to get to certain areas for like shopping or anything like that. It’s definitely been something that’s been heard in our community.”
Currently, Age Friendly Coordinator Debbie Tarr has been taking seniors to appointments in her own car, Crocker said. If voters do approve funding for the RTP mini-van program it will take the strain off Tarr and offer the ability to accommodate more people.
If approved, the QuickRide program would run Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It would start sometime this summer and continue year-round. Customers would pay about $3 per ride.
RTP Executive Director Don Libby said if Raymond voters approve funding, RTP and the town would run a 12-month QuickRide pilot program and then reevaluate how the program is working.
The program was started in January 2024 in Windham; it also runs in Gorham and Standish.
“The goal,” Libby said, “is to run in every town up and down the 302 corridor to Bridgton.”
The QuickRide program is working well in Windham, said Windham’s Age Friendly Coordinator Erica Bell-Watkins.
One of the reasons that Windham adopted the program was because transportation was identified as one of the top needs in a community survey, she said.
Anyone of any age can take advantage of the program, but it’s especially important for seniors, Bell-Watkins said.
“As people get older and decide not to drive or people sometimes use it because they’re getting their eyes dilated or getting a colonoscopy so it’s not just for people who don’t drive it’s for people who are not driving that day,” she said. “That QuickRide program has been very helpful. “It’s all been successful.”
She said she shared Windham’s experience with a town staffer in Raymond.
“I told her I thought it would be great for Raymond because it has been a great success here,” Bell-Watkins said.
Election Day voting in Raymond will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 10 at Jordan-Small Middle School. <
