Meghann Ackerman Talks About the Differences Between The Ride and The Ride Flex – two services offered by the MBTA.
Meghann Ackerman is Deputy Director of Communications for The Ride – a service offered by the MBTA. This series explores different topics related to finding the right supportive housing for your loved one with intellectual or developmental disabilities. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the difference between the Ride and the Ride Flex?
The Ride is a mode of public transportation that’s part of the MBTA, and it’s for people who have disabilities which prevent them from being able to use other forms of public transportation, like buses or subways. Customers can use it as much as they would like within our service hours. Our drivers provide door-to-door service and some assistance to customers in getting to and from the vehicle. The Ride Flex is an optional program that we started a few years ago, where customers can sign up for a certain number of subsidized trips on either Uber or Lyft. They can schedule those the same way anyone would schedule an Uber or Lyft. Lyft also has a call-in option, if that works better for someone.
We provide those who qualify with a coupon or a subsidy that brings the price down. Most customers are paying $3 for those rides. For some longer trips, customers may pay a bit more than the subsidy we provide.
The other part of The Ride Flex is that, if you opt in, you’re also giving us permission to shift some of your trips that you schedule with The Ride to either Uber or Lyft. Because they don’t provide the same door-to-door service, customers can opt out on any trip if they would prefer it be provided by The Ride.
We currently can’t do same-day trips on The Ride, so having the Ride Flex and using Uber or Lyft gives you that option of being able to schedule right when you’re ready to take a trip.
How can the services be mixed and matched?
We have one option for same-day travel. Customers can mix and match The Ride and The Ride Flex. Let’s say they’re going to meet friends for dinner at 6 p.m., but they don’t know what time the dinner will end. They might schedule The Ride to get them to the restaurant, but don’t want to be sitting there for an hour after all their friends have left because they’re waiting for The Ride. In that case, they might decide to schedule one of their subsidized Uber or Lyft trips as soon as they’re ready to leave.
What areas do these services cover?
The Ride and The Ride Flex both operate in the same service area. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that transportation agencies like the MBTA provide paratransit service within three-quarters of a mile of the buses, subways, and trolleys, so that makes up the bulk of our service area. We do have a few areas that have been added, and those are called premium areas. The fare’s a little bit higher, and those areas are a little bit farther outside of the downtown core. Customers can still take The Ride Flex in the premium areas.
How does scheduling work?
You can call the Ride Access Center, or TRAC to speak to a reservationist and schedule your trip. We also have a customer app and a web portal on our website customers can use to schedule their own trips. If you’re someone who’s already familiar with Uber or Lyft, our app is going to feel familiar to setting up a trip with those services.
The Ride Flex customers who want to use one of those subsidized on-demand trips would schedule that themselves either through the Uber or Lyft app. If you’ve decided to go with the Lyft call-in option, you would call in and speak to someone to book your trip on Lyft.
For more information, you can call 617-431-5400 or email us at: contact@mainstayliving.org
