On-demand ride service brings door-to-door transportation in Saco, Biddeford and Old Orchard Beach

Steve Mondor’s father, Donald, has been going from his home in Old Orchard Beach to dialysis appointments in Biddeford three times a week for many years.

At first, he drove himself to the appointments. When he stopped driving, his wife drove him. Then, earlier this year, his wife stopped driving.

“We had to figure out how to get him rides. It was just hard and stressful,” said Steve Mondor.

But then, Mondor’s Aunt found a flyer about a new program from the Biddeford Saco Old Orchard Beach Transit provides rides called QuickRide.

QuickRide is an on-demand ride service for people living in Old Orchard Beach, Saco and Biddeford that runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The cost for passengers is $2 a ride, and $1 for reduced fare.

“A trip has to originate in one of those three communities, and it has to end in one of those three communities,” said John Savage, executive director of BSOOB transit. Riders schedule a ride on the app, or, if they don’t have access to technology, they can call the BSOOB office. The handicapped-accessible van will pick them up and drop them off at their requested destination.

Mondor said QuickRide has been a “Godsend.”

“It was a such a stress reliever. It gave us piece of mind,” said Mondor. “It’s been really, really, convenient.”

Mondor does his parents’ grocery shopping and also runs errands for them, and while the fixed-ride service is only needed for his father’s dialysis appointments, its reassuring to know it’s also available for other trips should his parents need it.

BSOOB is a transit service that provides regularly scheduled bus service in Biddeford, Saco, Old Orchard Beach and part of Scarborough. It receives funding from the four communities, fare money from riders, and state and federal grants for specific services.

BSOOB launched QuickRide in April as a two-year pilot program, with help from a federal grant. The grant money has been exhausted, so now it’s funded through BSOOB’s regular budget, said Savage.

The ride program is now averaging 20 riders a day, said Savage, with two vans running from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

BSOOB also has a program where, if a rider is unable to get to a bus stop, they can call ahead of time and have a bus deviate from its route up to three quarters of a mile. While this has been an option for many years, it only generated a few riders a week.

The community’s needs change over time, and BSOOB is looking how to best accommodate these needs, said Savage.

“I think it’s incumbent on us to come up with better ways to solve the problem,” he said.

One area where there is no fixed bus-route service is north of Route 95 in Saco, an area where there are many people in housing developments that are exceeding middle-age.

“We have a large population of people who are probably going to try to age in place on the other side of Route 95. They’re going to need access to transportation, and I don’t know if it makes sense to drive a bus all the way there to try to go through those neighborhoods to get a bus close enough for them to access services, but a van definitely makes sense,” he said.

While the per-passenger cost for the Quick-Ride is higher than that of a fixed route bus, however, if you look at the whole picture, it makes better financial sense. Operating two vans is cheaper than operating two buses, and it can provide better service and meet the needs of riders, said Savage.

While QuickRide is largely used by seniors, Savage said he wants community members to know that anyone in the three municipalities can use it, and should view it as an extension of the local bus service. For example, if someone has to drop off their car at the shop and needs a ride home, they can schedule it with QuickRide. This also gives public transportation access to taxpayers who help fund the bus service, but do not live on fixed bus routes.

For more information on QuickRide and to download the app, go to https://bsoobtransit.org/quickride/ . Otherwise, all the BSOOB office at the Saco Transportation Center at 207-282-5408

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.

This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from The Gerontological Society of America, The Journalists Network on Generations and The Silver Century Foundation.