St. Mary’s County commissioners approved a state grant application Sept. 1 that will help keep a volunteer-driven transportation program running for seniors who have no other reliable way to get around.
The FY27 Senior Rides grant application, approved for the county’s Department of Aging and Human Services, requests $26,973 in state funding, matched by $8,991 from the county. The program itself provides door-to-door rides for county residents age 60 and older who can’t use other public transportation and lack access to reliable transportation of their own — driven entirely by volunteers using their own personal vehicles. The county notes that participation doesn’t guarantee a ride will be available, since service depends on whether a volunteer driver is free at the time.
To qualify, riders generally need a low-to-moderate income — not exceeding $4,040 a month for an individual or $5,420 for a couple — and must be able to walk with a cane or walker, since the program can’t accommodate wheelchairs. Riders are typically limited to four transportation requests per month, used for things like doctor’s appointments, grocery runs, and other errands.
Senior Rides isn’t unique to St. Mary’s County. The program was established statewide by Maryland legislation in 2004 and is funded through grants from the Maryland Transit Administration, with each participating county required to provide a local match — the same funding structure behind this year’s approval. Statewide, the program leaned on 579 volunteer drivers in fiscal year 2023 alone, according to a report filed with the Maryland General Assembly, and grantees across the state together provided more than 52,000 one-way trips to roughly 2,500 unique seniors that year.
The grant was one of several routine items commissioners approved during County Administrator Time at the Sept. 1 meeting, alongside substance-abuse treatment grants for the Sheriff’s Office and Health Department and a separate agreement with the Chesapeake Bay Trust to administer county tree-planting funds.
