The Ride (MBTA)

The Ride van in Lexington Center

The Ride vehicle in Lexington

The Ride (sometimes styled as THE RIDE) is the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's paratransit program for people with physical, mental or cognitive disabilities that make it difficult or impossible to ride the MBTA's fixed-route bus, train, and ferry services. The program uses wheelchair accessible vans for door-to-door service; drivers are required to assist passengers to and from the vehicle. The Ride satisfies requirements under the 1990 Americans With Disabilities Act for transit systems to provide services for those who cannot ride the fixed-route system.^[1] The service began in April 1977 with two vehicles.^[2]

Unlike fixed-route services, The Ride trips must be scheduled in advance. Same-day trip requests, and those greater than 3/4 mile from fixed-route services, incur a surcharge.^[1] The Ride does not use the CharlieCard; instead, passengers must set up an individual account with the MBTA.^[1]

The Ride has attracted criticism in recent years for its high costs - over $50 per rider per trip - and inefficient service model.^[3][4]

Operations

The program is run by the MBTA, but actual service is contracted out to three separate companies and organizations in the Greater Boston area to run the service. The service uses the MBTA branding and the vans can largely be identified by color schemes with stripes running alongside the van. (However, GLSS also uses their own vans with their own branding in combination with MBTA-branded vans).

Criticism

The program has been criticized for its high cost to the MBTA, particularly since much of the MBTA was made accessible in the past three decades.^[5] (All MBTA Bus routes and Orange Line stations are accessible, as are most Red line and Blue Line stations; about 75% of commuter rail stations and most high-ridership Green Line stations are accessible). During discussions of potential major fare increases and service cuts in 2013, the program's high cost per rider was cited as waste.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Ride (MBTA).

• MBTA: The Ride

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Subway lines (List of stations)	Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan Former lines      Arborway Line      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Washington Street Elevated
Commuter Rail lines (List of stations)	North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Former lines Central Mass Branch Dedham Branch Lexington Branch Millis Branch Woburn Branch
Bus routes (List of routes)	Silver Line Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston
Other services	Boat The Ride
Component parts of system lines	Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway
Capital projects	Under construction      Blue Hill Avenue station      Boston Landing station           Forest Hills modifications      Green Line Extension      Haverhill Line upgrades           Silver Line Gateway / Chelsea station      South Coast Rail In planning / proposed      Buzzards Bay extension      Foxboro service      Hynes Convention Center renovation      Kingston R.I. extension      Nashua extension      Route 16 extension      Wollaston renovation Formerly proposed      Arborway Line restoration      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61)      Lexington extension      Lynn extension      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Reading extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project
History	Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Streetcar lines Boston and Maine Railroad Conrail New York Central Railroad New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Penn Central Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Accidents and incidents      1990 Back Bay      2008 Waban/Woodland
Other	Accessibility Arts on the Line Bicycling CharlieCard Grand Junction Railroad "Charlie on the M.T.A." Nomenclature Police                Winter Street Concourse Yards and maintenance facilities