FREDERICK, Md. (DC News Now) — Frederick County’s senior population is expected to grow and so is the need for more transit.

Occie Jackson said she’s been riding TransIT Plus for about three weeks.

“My car’s broken down. I would have it fixed, but the economy is so rough now that I cannot fix it right now,” Jackson said.

TransIT Plus is a paratransit service for seniors and people with disabilities.

Mary Dennis, Communications Manager for Transit Services of Frederick County, said there were over 48,000 TransIT Plus readers for FY23.

“Frederick County’s growing, so hopefully our taxi access program, the change hopefully will help, you know, more transit plus users have more flexibility,” Dennis said.

Now, the county is making it easier for seniors and people with disabilities to use TransIT’s Taxi Access Program (TAP), so that they can travel within Frederick County, including during times when TransIT Plus is not operating.

The taxi access program picks and drops off riders anywhere in the county for as little as $10.

The county also needs more bus and taxi drivers to accommodate the high demand.

“We have less vehicles, and we have more people. We need more vehicles to transport these people,” Shoani Griffin, bus operator for TransIT, said.

Eligible users can now participate in the program after scheduling or attempting
to schedule three TransIT Plus rides over the course of a month.

Users pay a zip code based fare to use the service by using a reloadable swipe card after receiving a subsidy that has already been funded by the county.

They also receive an allotment of taxi funds monthly, based on their home zip code.