The Canton Township Board of Trustees, formally voted to accept roughly $30,000 in SMART Grant money at their last meeting. This is basically a yearly formality, and the money comes from the state, out of the SMART money funding. They get this portion every year, because back in the mid 90's, Canton Township opted out of the SMART Bus program.
By opting out, Canton Township taxpayers saved roughly 1.95 million dollars in taxes. What they lost was SMART Bus transportation for workers to commute, mostly to Detroit for work. They also lost some routes around the township for seniors and disabled folks.
Canton Township officials felt that for the number of residents actually using the service to commute downtown for work, the nearly 2 million dollars in taxes was simply not worth it, and they also felt that they could provide for seniors, and disabled people much better, with more personalized service.
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Canton Community Mobility Transportation Services program was created, and is a partnership between Canton Township and Huron Valley Ambulance. When you crunch all the numbers down, this program costs $436,000 a year to implement, but Canton takes in $150,000 a year in state funding and fare-box money. So the actual cost is $286,000. The savings to the taxpayer on a yearly basis from opting out of SMART is over 1.6 million dollars.
This transportation program has become more popular every year since it's implementation, and provided almost 30,000 rides last year, which is a 9% increase over the 2012 figure.
Find out what's happening in Plymouth-Cantonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Canton Township Treasurer, Melissa McLaughlin stated that, "HVA has been an excellent partner for us in this endeavor, and this service provides independence and dignity to both senior citizens, and folks who are disabled."
Here is how the Canton Community Mobility Transportation Services program works:
For trips in Canton only, you can get curb to curb service, from 8:00AM- 5:00PM Monday thru Friday for a cash fare of $2 (one way)
For other destinations throughout Wayne County there are certain areas that are covered for a cash fare of $3 (one way) It should be noted that the entire Wayne County area is not covered, so if there are questions it is best to call ahead to make sure your destination is covered.
This program also has somewhat more limited service to Washtenaw County, for medical destinations such as, U of M Medical Center, VA Hospital, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Campus, Older Adult Recovery Center, and Approved Dialysis centers. These trips are cash fare $10 each way.
Eligibility for this service:
- Individuals 62 years and older.
- Individuals who are temporarily/permanently disabled.
- Individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability.
- Completion of The Canton Mobility Transportation Eligibility Package.
There are priorities in place for when scheduled trips exceed the program capacity, and medical, and employment are always considered a priority one trip, with grocery shopping, and academic education classes a priority two trip, and things like hair & nail appointments, movies, library, etc considered a priority three trip.
For more information and details you can call 1-888-539-98789
